If you've never heard World Class Thugs' heady mix of Americana, psychedelia, Kurt Weill and just plain ol' weird, might I suggest imagining what it might sound like if Scout, Jem and Dill of To Kill a Mockingbird making up songs about the creepy adults of that hot summer, truthful enough that it give yu a sharp ping, but chipper enough so as not to ruin a healthy game of hopscotch.
"Give me those highs with the corresponding lows," sings Jocelyn Ruiz on World Class Thugs' sophomore effort Curio (available at all CD Baby's and Reverb Nation outlets) and by gum if they don't deliver both in abundance. I profiled them back in 2007 with the release of their first album Ameripiranha and they were one of the first groups I asked to appear on the vidcast and in a moment you will see why World Class Thugs are world class guests! And truthfully, Jim Dustan is easier to make laugh than a baby with a long feather.
In Part 1, you'll learn about the mysterious World Class Thug artifacts encased in wood on the cover of their CD and we inaugurate a new segment on the show called "How's My Indie Cred?™" Will the Thugs' innate quirky and eclecticism be enough to save them from blowing all the band's indie cred if they can name EVEN ONE of the five artists lodged in the Top 5 of Billboard at the time of filming? And for all you Newlywed Game fans, we sequestered Jim into an isolation booth (OK, a bathroom) to see how well Jocelyn believes she knows her own man's indie cred. A real nail biter, let me tell you!
In Part 2, we had to forgo our usual "Direct-To-You Song Performance™" on account of Thugs bassist Gil Guillia being absent. Happily, this has led to another new segment on the show called "Spotlight on Lip Sync!™" The Thugs perform one of the standout tracks from their new album Curio called "Bootstraps."
"How's My Indie Cred?™", "Spotlight on Lip Sync!™" and "The Teflon Man with The Tough Love Tenderness™" are all registered trademarks.
