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About a year or so ago, I was at the Uptown Bar in Minneapolis, catching one of the strongest double bills I’ve ever seen: Tickle Fight opening for Junkyard Empire. If you ever get the chance to see either band, go for it. If you get wind that they’re on the same stage again, be ready for a night that has to be experienced to be believed.
Rock-jazz hybrid Tickle Fight is, plain and simple, a wild and crazy band. Along the order of, say, David Byrne, Frank Zappa…that kind of thing. To give you a little bit of an idea just how weird a head the band’s leader Cody McKinney has on his shoulders, the band is described on their MySpace site as “Pop/Latin/Lounge.” Okay, fine. What they are, bottom line, is a vastly imaginative, airtight powerhouse: McKinney (bass, vocals), Rachel Neels (vocals), Pete Hennig (drums), Jordan Carlson (vibes, percussion), Park Evans (guitar), and Tanner Taylor (keys).
Their EP Tickle Fight is an excellent introduction, leading with the cut “Apartment Review.” Oddball lyrics narrate a guy’s night in as he takes in “movies-for-tv dinner/and a card game on my cell phone/I dance in my tighty whities/I try on my lady’s nighty/break-dance inside my sweatpants/and then I give my smoke a lighty.” Don’t ask just what sort of smoke he’s lighting: you probably don’t want to know. “Fillin’ Me Up” is as catchy as an STD, grounded by nasty drums with an insistent pure funk bass riff, laced with sweetly economic guitar and snaking keyboard work (it’s been a long time since anyone used an organ at all, let alone with such finesse). Over this the chorus chants, “What is the matter with you?”—yeah, I know, McKinney’s got nerve asking that question. Tickle Fight is a mini-workout in the heavyweight division, mind-bending music in the first degree. - Twin Cities Daily Planet
There's a rubber room waiting for Cody McKinney. Right down the hall from the one that's waiting for similarly gifted, equally insane singer-songwriter David Byrne. The comparison's inevitable, but that doesn't mean McKinney is an imitator. In fact, he makes a zany mark all his own, heading up the superb band Tickle Fight, which is McKinney (bass) along with Rachel Neels (vocals), Pete Hennig (drums), Jordan Carlson (vibes-percussion), Park Evans (guitar) and Tanner Taylor (keyboards). Tickle Fight packed the Uptown Bar to capacity last December with their EP release gig. So show up early if you want a seat or standing room at the stage. With First Communion Afterparty and The Honeydogs. 8 p.m. $10. 1308 4th St. SE, Mpls.
- Pulse of the Twin Cities
Discography
Self Titled EP-released late 2006
Photos
Bio
Formed in the summer of 2006, the group Ticklefight has already gained a reputation and buzz unheard of in recent minnesota music history. Comprised of all first call session musicians, the level of musical depth is un paralleled and the collective sound created is un classifiable. If one were to classify ticklefight, terms such as pop, latin, lounge, indie, world, and groove would come up constantly. To an average music fan, sounds that illicit cinematic drama and classic broadway charm fills their ears, and takes them on a sonic journey through their imagination. To the more musically versed listener, complex rhythms and harmonies which blend effortlessly into a sound palette of cutting edge composition, re ignite the notion that the years of musicianship in music are not yet over. Coupled with light hearted lyrical word play and theater like presentation, ticklefight, is as one listener commented, like a tim burton movie for your ears.
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