No, not those Refreshments. The famous Tempe act from the 90's is still very much broken up. Not that you'd know it from a hilarious listing on a SXSW site which names a band called the Refreshments from Tempe, Arizona. The site shows the cover of the Arizona band's first album and has their songs embedded, including the big hit "Banditos" as well as "Mekong," "Blue Collar Suicide" and the King Of The Hill theme song, all of which Roger Clyne's former band recorded.
The Refreshments that are actually playing The Tap Room at Six in Austin on Wednesday, March 16 are a Swedish rockabilly band, who have been around 20 years, forming in 1989 and predating the Tempe act by three years.
The blurb on the site has those facts right:
Two decades have passed since a bunch of kids from Gävle decided to walk in the footsteps of their Rockpile heroes and put all their bets on basic three-chord rock. It was a wise decision. Twelve consecutive gold albums, one platinum and more than half a million albums sold proves it. The list above includes the new album "A Band's Gotta Do What A Band's Gotta Do", which has been certified gold on pre-order. Once again the band delivers. "A Band's Gotta Do What A Band's Gotta Do" is new convincing proof that The Refreshments have created their own unique sound. A mix of high- energy rock'n'roll, melodic pop and bittersweet country boogie. The band has remained the same for years: Joakim Arnell (bass/vocals), Johan Blohm (piano/vocals), Micke Finell (sax/vocals/guitar), Mats Forsberg (drums) and Robin Olsson (guitar/vocals), but something has happened since their 2007 studio album "24/7". The sound is sharper and more direct. It's the sound of a group that rocks harder than ever, which probably is a natural progression for a band whose motto is: "It's Gotta be Both Rock'n'Roll". "We don't want to change our style, switch instruments or make any other changes just for the sake of it. The only thing we try to do with every new album is to write the best songs as possible and make them rock as much as we can", Joakim Arnell says.But the songs are all wrong.
It's sort of odd how Phoenix bands sometimes end up with the same name as European bands -- the same thing happened to our Kinch, actually, and that was in the internet age, when you'd think people would know better.
So, anyway, here's a link to the real Refreshments -- or at least the only ones that'll be playing SxSW.
