Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
This band has no press
Discography
1992: “Squish” Cassette Self-Released
1993: “Buff Me, Baby” Cassette Self-Released
1994: “I Want To” b/w “Real Gone Girl” 7” Single (Worrybird Disc)
1995: “In The End” b/w “Stay Away” 7” Single (Dionysus Records)
1996: “Fifty Thousand Dollar Hand Job” CD/LP (360 Twist!)
1997: “Amazon Queen” 7” EP (G.I. Productions)
1997: “Leave Me Alone” on “Invasion of the
Insectoids” Compilation G.I. Productions
1998: “Get Ready for Action!” CD/LP (Dionysus Records)
2002 “No More” b/w “Panty Sniffer” 7” Single (Get Hip Recordings)
2003 “Go Fast!” CD/LP (Get Hip Recordings)
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Since Halloween night in 1992, Mondo Topless has been serving audiences a tasty concoction of fuzzy-spicy guitar, bubbly-thumpy bass, and crunchy drums, all topped with a thick cheesy organ sauce.
It’s a simple concept, really: “Rock n’ Roll is more about primal energy and erotic tension than deep meaning and introspection,” says Sam Steinig, singer and organ grinder. This is also a clever way of avoiding people trying to figure out the lyrics. To
further convey his music philosophy, Sam turned to Russ Meyer’s classic 1968 travelogue for the
name of the band.
Thus, armed with his third-hand Vox Continental organ, he took it upon himself to enrich the world with some really loud, fast and stupid rock n’ roll. The latest incarnation of Mondo Topless features mad-scientist Tom Connors continuing to punish his drums, whilst bassist and coffee-achiever John Loxterman adds the requisite thud. Kris Alutius, technician/guitarist/beef jerky spokesman, adds
the squeals, pings, and power chords necessary for any garage rock ensemble. Stirred and heated to boiling, and you’ve got some damn fine song stylings, capable of inducing shaking, jumping and other irrational acts. The influences are easy to identify: The Sonics, The Stooges, The Kinks, The Lyres, The Cramps, The Cynics, and that woman who plays the between-inning music at your local minor-league ballpark (provided she’s had a couple of pops).
Mondo Topless has attracted the attention of several independent record labels over the years. In 1995, Worrybird Disk International, of Atlanta, GA, took the plunge, releasing the first single “I Want To” b/w “Real Gone Girl.” Shortly thereafter, legendary garage label Dionysus chimed in with another single, “In The End” b/w “Stay Away.” In 1996, the now-defunct Denver, CO imprint 360 Twist! released the first Mondo Topless long-player “Fifty-Thousand Dollar Hand Job.”
Following each of these releases Mondo Topless hit the road to bring the “Mondo Sound” to the people. From 1995 to 1997, the peripatetic group left their native Philadelphia to invade Atlanta,
New Orleans, Denver, Orlando, Tuscaloosa, and points in-between. Mondo Topless has been
paired with such garage, punk and rock ‘n roll luminaries as Southern Culture on the Skids, The
Fleshtones, The Swingin’ Neckbreakers, The Woggles, The Lyres, The Original Sins, Ronnie
Dawson, The Cynics, Dick Dale, and more. They also appeared at garage festivals like
Cavestomp and Sleazefest.
In 1997, G.I. Productions, USA! invited Mondo Topless to contribute a song for their “Invasion of
the Insectoids” compilation. In that same year, G.I. released a 3-song 7” E.P., entitled “Amazon
Queen.”
Bolstered by the rave reviews for “Amazon Queen,” in the Fall of 1998, Dionysus returned to the well to release the second Mondo Topless full-length, “Get Ready for Action!”
In the spring of 2002, Get Hip Recordings released a new Mondo Topless 7” single, “No More” b/w “Panty Sniffer”.
In 2003, Get Hip released the latest Mondo Topless CD/LP. Entitled “Go Fast!”, it is their most popular release to date, and has garnered rave reviews from around the world.
Links
