The Van Buren Boys
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The Van Buren Boys

Band Folk Punk

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"Local Spotlight:The Van Buren Boys"

"Sticking with the format that worked so well last week, we start things off today with a spotlight on a band that I think is destined for some big things, this time a local folk-punk foursome, The Van Buren Boys. Then we run down all the shows you need to check out for the coming week – and trust me, there are a LOT of good shows coming up, so I hope you’ve saved your pennies this past week.

Local Spotlight: The Van Buren Boys

The Van Buren Boys are fast becoming one of my favorite bands to watch live. Every performance is inspired and authentic. Don’t get me wrong, the band’s recently released debut full-length Planet Kickass is a damn good record, but it’s in their fiery live performance that The Van Buren Boys excel.

With the greatest bandname ever taken from a Seinfeld episode (check the reference here), The Van Buren Boys carry the torch of great protest song writers, from Joe Hill to Dropkick Murphys, with songs that refer to miners and factory workers, starving artists and drunken soldiers. Kickass is classic folk-punk – for peers look to This Bike is a Pipe Bomb, Defiance Ohio and Andrew Jackson Jihad. The bands live show is no-holds-barred and confrontational, with Jake Van Buren often times hanging from rafters, upside while screaming about union politics.

The Murphys-esque “Drinking Games” is your classic (as the title would suggest) drunkard singalong – the type of song where you put your arm around your mates, raise your glasses and sing like the proudest of alcoholics (I know because I’ve done this at my fair share of TVBB shows). A cover of “Walkin After,” made famous by one Patsy Cline, is musically solid but fails as lead vocalist Blake Van Buren struggles to keep up with the amazing Cline’s higher range. “Reggae” likewise finds the band stretching beyond their comfort zone. IWW-inspired protest songs like “Which Side” and “Amerikampf” are where The Van Buren Boys truly succeed.

I’ve been into this band for a while, seeing them play numerous times at Red7, Plush, and Hole in the Wall. Kickass is a really good CD, a “solid debut” as they say, but ultimately it’s all about the live show with these boys. The Van Buren Boys will be at Red7 this Friday playing a showcase for PHX Records." - Transmission Entertainment


"Texas Platters"

The Van Buren Boys cram square miles of rambling lyrics into mere acres of sloppy punk rock. Planet Kickass touches on a number of different styles, including cow-punk, rocksteady, and folk, all spiked with the deadly cocktail of half-assed execution and verbal diarrhea that is the Boys' signature and ranges from annoyingly shrill ("Which Side") to annoyingly cliched ("Reggae") to annoyingly Irish ("Drinking Games"). Their most irritating songs are also the most interesting: Witness "Americampf," a political rant too lunkheadedly paranoid for a black-bandanna convention, and "Alwaysless," an uptempo rocker with lyrics culled from "The Raven." Poe-punk, of course. One must credit the Van Burens for taking risks and admit that, while such risks often leave the artist looking ridiculous, the ridiculous can serve as a legitimate source of amusement. In fact, that's pretty much rock & roll in a nutshell. – Daniel Mee - The Austin Chronicle


Discography

PLANET KICKASS_2008
-Bellingham
-Reggae
-Harpies
-Amerikampf
-Bayou
-Dragons
-Frut
-Alwayless
-Which Side
-Walkin' After...
-Drinking Games

The Compound_EP
(Self-Released)
-Bellingham
-Bayou
-Which Side
-Old Hickory's Ghost

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Bio

The Van Buren Boys never started a fight they couldn’t finish, but in fact rarely win.

Just as mean as their presidential ancestor, brothers Blake & Jake Van Buren cast feelings aside when composing Folk based Punk riffs combined with culture driven lyrics. Together with long time friends and fellow drunks, Eric Lopez and Stephen Higgins, The Van Buren Boys have set out to change the perception of punk while still keeping its values; For rock and roll is not dead, it’s just been watered down.

On stage, the boys are simply who they are; crowd pleasin’, binge drinkin’, rafter swingin’, sons of bitches. But only in the utmost professional way. The Van Buren Boys offer a unique show to match there one-of-kind sound.

Currently you can find the Boys drinking at a local dive near you; or maybe in the streets spreading their VIII stencil. Either way, The Van Buren Boys eagerly await to be sued by Larry David(co-writer of Seinfeld)