Adult Rodeo
Tough Titty (Kinson Music)
Reviewed by Greg Beets, Fri., March 12, 2004
Adult Rodeo
Tough Titty (Kinson Music) Although their moniker sounds more like an HBO Real Sex segment than a band, Adult Rodeo's fourth album packs in more provocations than a month of lonely, late-night TV leer sessions. Initially borne out of the Shimmy-Disc school of subterranean twist und twang, the band's sound has evolved considerably since their 1998 move to Austin. Adult Rodeo boasts three distinctive songwriters in guitarist/vocalist Rob Erickson, guitarist Toby Scroggins, and bassist/vocalist Stephanie Mankins. Having Brown Whörnet's Phillip White on the drum riser doesn't hurt, either. Erickson and co-writer Kevin Blechdom grab you by the boo-boo right away with "Buildings," a rollicking cow-punk merry-go-round with almost enough curves to qualify as a pocket suite. By contrast, Mankins' "Peterpan" is a soothing oddball nod laced with shades of Galaxie 500. Not to be outdone, Scroggins offers "Florida," a spaghetti-Western-flavored guitar face-off chugging down 95 South. Tough Titty's strongest one-two punch comes with the superfuzz beat box funk of "Invisible Snake Charmers" followed by "Thru the Door," a fun ode to bees that renders angry hardcore impulses goofy and spry. "Norman" starts out as a balls-out Austin rock anthem before a jarring-yet-appropriate dip into a feedback-soaked bridge. Adult Rodeo partakes in a wide variety of musical styles, but Tough Titty emphasizes songs over tangents, making it a more cohesive album than the group's earlier, more experimental work. They've got flair with flavor, and that's much more gratifying than watching flabby swingers cavort at a dude ranch. (Wednesday, March 17, 1am @ Saké on Sixth)