Skip's Museum
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Skip's Museum

Flemington, New Jersey, United States | SELF

Flemington, New Jersey, United States | SELF
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"Eclectic band skips over stylistic boundaries"

Skip's Museum

Skip's Museum is an apt name for a band whose stylistic shifts give the listener the impression they're listening not so much to an album by a group out to define its sound than a well-curated mix from a musically minded friend.

On the group's debut album, 2010's "The Rain Table," there are hints of reggae, arena rock and ragtime sprinkled in among the healthy doses of funk and fusion jazz that form the backbone of most of Skip's Museum's songs.

Longtime fans and newcomers alike will surely find plenty to enjoy when the band returns to the stage at Triumph Brewing Co. tonight in New Hope, Pa.

The band, formed in 2007 by guitarist and vocalist Matt Micali, drummer Mike Micali, bassist Pat Knapp and keyboardist Russ Cody, might best be described as a "jam band," but prospective fans would do well not to paint the group with broad strokes.

Sure, they favor improvisation in their live performances, and yes, some of the songs on "The Rain Table" stretch beyond the six-minute mark, but the musicians who make up Skip's Museum are much more than self-indulgent noodlers.

This is a band that takes its music seriously.
It's just everything else that gets played for laughs.
The band's CDBaby site (cdbaby.com/artist/skipsmuseum) -- where fans can purchase physical or digital copies of the debut album -- eschews the traditional band bio for a yarn involving (among other things) a "dreaded mustachioed train robber," spelunking, wild stallions and canned peaches.
The band's logo is a Shepherd Fairey-esque stencil of the bassist's brother's bearded face.

They've written a psychedelic bossa nova pastiche about woodworking ("Woodblock Hero"), built a New Orleans blues song around a goofy play on words ("Oni the Bull") and frequently pair their carefully crafted melodies with clever, smirking lyrics full of surreal imagery and inside jokes.

But for all that humor, there's no denying the band's formidable chops.
Cody consistently impresses with his expert keyboard work, with percussive organ stabs dancing around the funky backbeat on album opener, "Cleanin' Up the Town."
Elsewhere, his twinkling piano lines in the epic centerpiece "Green Apple" recall Page McConnell's work in Rift-era Phish (one of the band's most noticeable influences).

Guitarist Matt Micali switches from a crunchy rock tone on songs like "Popcorn" and "Wanderlust" to fluid, jazz-influenced lines and funky-filtered rhythm playing on album standout "Leader on Your Line," which explodes into the record's catchiest chorus.

But while the work of the two soloists may stand out on first listen, the contributions of bassist Knapp and drummer Mike Micali are the backbone of Skip's Museum's sound. Throughout the album, Mike Micali and Knapp lock into syncopated funk grooves, driving rock rhythms, and loping, reggae-inspired beats with equal mastery.

Knapp's bass bursts from the mix on "Wanderlust," while Micali's jazzy accents carry the song through a tense, slow-building middle section.
Skip's Museum and its danceable, crowd-friendly songs will take the stage tonight at 10. - Trenton Times


Discography

The Rain Table - 2010

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Bio

An up and coming band from the Flemington area. Their diverse collection of original music and their unique and entertaining performances are quickly gaining respect in local communities as a band not to be missed! An eclectic mix rooted in rock, but influenced by funk, jazz, and whatever else we find interesting.