Music
Press
The Holy Grail Pop Companion gushes, "the bootLICKERS power pop ranks in the upper stratosphere (see Jason Falkner, Matthew Sweet). The cocktail mix would probably be: 1 part Go-Go's, 2 parts Beatles, & a dash of Dollywood!"
- The Holy Grail Pop Companion
"I put this in my cd player and fell in love with it right off the bat!"
- Chris Allen, Audiofile - Public Radio International (syndicated worldwide)
"'Love Comes Back' is the best slice of power pop since REM's 'Superman' and 'Road' is my favorite country song by a non-country band...ever! They're that good!!"
- Listen.com
"This CD would be a GREAT addition to anyone's musical library!"
- Mark Armstrong, 90.7 KPFK, Los Angeles
"Man, what a great CD! I LOVE it!"
- Taylor Cage, 91.7 KOOP, Austin
"Make no mistake this CD is HUGE. HUGE in The bootLICKERS ability to capture, entertain, and leave an indelible mark on your musical memory...when this CD ends you know you have gone somewhere"
- Stonewall Society
"On the inside sleeve of Universal Nancy, The Bootlickers point to Aimee Mann, R.E.M. and Crowded House as their musical inspiration, but their songs are more akin to the Magnetic Fields or Belle & Sebastian. Like those artists, they balance syrupy sentiments and sweet melodies with dry instrumentation and wistful singing. John McNeill's clean guitar strum plays counterpoint to the band’s three-part harmonies. Bootlicker lyrics can be extremely intense or tongue-in-cheek cute. In "Stephen," McNeill flies a kite with the ghost of a dead friend. "Sure of You" praises and questions a new romance with the goofy line: "In a Hardy Boys Mystery you're the greatest clue/ Though I've always been partial to Nancy Drew." Of course who could overlook the Bootlickers' cover of "These Boots are Made for Walkin'" with its phrase: "These Boots are made for lickin'." Hidden away under a stack of cds vying for my attention, Universal Nancy quietly stunned me - a very promising debut."
- Neil Gladstone, “Hometown Heroes” Philadelphia City Paper – The Music Issue
"It was only a matter of time before a queer artist covered Liz Phair’s “H.W.C.” (which stands for “hot white cum”), a song from her most recent self-titled album. I’m glad that it was The Bootlickers, an accessible and tasty quartet from Philadelphia, whose enticing 2001 full-length disc Huge is a sizable achievement. While I’m not a fan of the short form, The Bootlickers’ new six-song EP Automatic Ball Cleaner (CoLinGa) is a wonderful and worthy effort. In addition to the fabulous Phair cover, The Bootlickers do a mean Pansy Division impression on their rendition of PD’s “Homo-Xmas,” which makes it feel like Christmas all year long. The four originals, including the sticky and sexy “I Just Did Your Boyfriend” (you can almost smell the post-coital aroma), the queer twang of “Pretty” and the toe-tapper “Boy,” only made me long for more spit-shine and polished songs by The Bootlickers." - Gregg Shapiro, Windy City Times
Discography
Universal Nancy
(RU12 records)
Huge
(coLinGa records)
Automatic Ball Cleaner
(coLinGa records)
Marry Me
(Figjam Records)
Love Rocks
(Centaur Music)
A Very bootLICKER Xmas!
(coLinGa records)
Music available at www.cdBaby.com
and for download at iTunes, Rhapsody, Buymusic, Napster, Audiolunchbox, Sony Connect, Zune + more
Photos
Bio
UPDATES (12/01/07): Hey kids - no live dates in December as we prepare to record the new CD...
However, to tide you over, we've put together a FREE Holiday CD that's fully downloadable (artwork and all!) from www.thebootlickers.com. You can also preview and download three of the tracks here in the AUDIO section.
AND a new video for Once More, With Feeling (from AUTOMATIC BALL CLEANER) has just been completed. Check it out in the VIDEO section.
Live shows will begin again after the new year to coincide with the release of the new CD (and our first concept video)!
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It's all about great songs...and we have them.
The purchase of a beat-up, worn down, tascam 4-track marked the beginning of John McNeill’s musical bliss; countless hours of experimentation evolved into dozens of musical works…leading to the formation of the bootLICKERs…which became the live vehicle for these harmony driven gems.
The bootLICKERs have released three cd’s Universal Nancy, HUGE, and Automatic Ball Cleaner. The band have been profiled as “Hometown Heroes” in the Philadelphia City Paper, voted “Best Band” by the Philadelphia Weekly and received tons of glowing reviews. John has been interviewed on KPFK, Los Angeles, KPFT, Houston, WXPN, Philadelphia, 4ZZZ, Australia and on IMRU Radio, QMH, Qzine, Sirius Satellite Radio and This Way Out (broadcast on more than 125 affiliate stations worldwide). The bootLICKERs have been featured on the PBS series "Under the Pink Carpet" performing in NYC at the Knitting Factory where they were joined onstage by Randy Jones (of the VILLAGE PEOPLE) to perform a racuous rendition of "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" HUGE was also chosen by This Way Out as BEST OF THE YEAR. Many of the songs have been featured in television and film, including:
“Hope” - featured on the NBC Series “ED”
“Road” - featured on the NBC Series “ED”
“Love Comes Back” - featured in the film “OpenCam”
“Radio City” - featured in the film “Stray Witness”
"Radio City" - featured in the film "Flogging Margaret"
“Love Comes Back” - featured on the Human Rights Campaign compliation “Love Rocks” alongside The Dixie Chicks, Christine Aguilera, Pink, Cyndi Lauper, Dido, Nada Surf, Emmylou Harris, Carole King, the B-52’s, Mandy Moore, Simply Red and Melissa Etheridge.
“Road” - featured on the ACLU/Figjam compilation “Marry Me” alongside RuPaul, Marcella Detroit (Shakespeare’s Sister), Bree Sharp, and Daniel Cartier
"Driving" - featured on Philly's top rated rock station 93.3 WMMR's "Home for the Holidays" campaign.
Sirius Satelite Radio broadcast the bootLICKERs live, performing a 45-minute set at the Cutting Room in NYC (including "Road", "Love Comes Back", "Hope", "Pretty", "Sure of You", "Margo Fontaine and the Hollywood Kids", "Radio City", "Driving" and "Once More, with Feeling").
John and the band have toured the US and Canada and have performed from Boston to Jacksonville, Nashville to Chicago, Cleveland to San Francisco, NYC to Ottawa, Baltimore to...well, you get the picture.
That’s all for now – with the promise of MUCH more to come!
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