Motor City Madmen

Comments (0) By Jason P. Woodbury Thursday, May 26 2011

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Picking a name for your rock ‘n’ roll band has never been a particularly serious affair -- hence madcap monikers like The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, Butthole Surfers, and Death Cab For Cutie.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., however, takes things to a whole new level of zaniness. While it’s perfectly logical to imagine the band providing the soundtrack to a zooming NASCAR race because of its name, the Detroit duo doesn’t sound like they would fit in much on the track. The band’s songs are delicate and dreamy, with nods to the indie-psych of Grizzly Bear and Animal Collective, but far more pop-oriented.

While the band owes more to the melodic harmonies of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys than Southern country crooners, it doesn’t mean the guys are above a little shtick when it suits them. Their video for buzz-building single “Nothing But Our Love” finds them decked out in NASCAR style racing suits -- sponsored by Cheerios and Lysol, respectively – and piloting cardboard cars in a race to the finish.

Wed., June 1, 8 p.m., 2011