Barons of Tang, The - The Barons of Tang (EP)
The Barons of Tang are a music storm in a bottle if ever I saw one; a band with more pure energy and excitement than a horny cheerleading team. Their live show is a powerful force like no other, getting people off their keisters and shaking, jiggling, spinning, everything. It was like a Spanish villa on...well, a really great day in a Spanish villa (sue me for not knowing the more important days on Spain’s calendar!)
Chucking on their self-titled EP, I buzzed a little excitement. Had me dancin' pants on and all. Gypsy Throttle is slow by BoT’s standards: a Euro-lambada with jazzy horns and a more than decent enough introduction to the Barons’ wild, flailing Gypsy-punk sound. Tango for Billy is the personal highlight, a samba drum leading into hot jazz sax, oh, it’s enough to make you dance all over the shop. The slow-down is deceiving; you can tell they will only come back with yet more vigour. Tango is cha-cha-tastic and, having seen the track live, is a red-hot dose of ants in the patrons’ pants.
Blood Wedding utilizes the much-underrated accordion to fulfil the bands’ tango sound. The violin, too, is used to full effect here; swaying to and fro like the flailing dress hems of the mamacitas in the audience. The song builds to a massive, fierce crescendo wherein the drums and violin damn near explode, leaving you with that worn-out but satisfied post-coital relaxation.
Take my advice, as you so often should; Barons of Tang are one of the most stimulating, and perversely underrated, bands on the scene, and thou shalt take every opportunity to see them live. End.
