Fox Fest 2013 with the Bright Light Social Hour, Levek, Jacuzzi Boys, Saskatchewan, Girls on the Beach, the Groove Orient
1-10 p.m. Saturday, April 13 | Mills Memorial Hall lawn, Rollins College, 1000 Holt Ave., Winter Park | 407-646-2000 | rollins.edu | free
Lyrics are often an entry point into music exploration because you don’t have to know anything about music to understand its message.
Especially as a teen trying to find something to relate to, television can skew too tawdry and movies (at least the ones you can see) are just too glossy. But music, if you’re really listening to it, is freer to be much more mature in its language and storytelling, as artists conjure angst, sex, depression and other parentally taboo topics that are hidden from a casual listener (aka Mom) by how catchy – or on the other side of the spectrum, how inaccessible – they are. You grow, and your music tastes grow along with you, but the one thing that inevitably sticks is an appreciation for great lyrics.
Miami’s Jacuzzi Boys are gifted lyricists. They continually refresh the sweet language associated with puppy love but package it in a grungy wrapper, like the pop music equivalent of candy cigarettes. On their 2011 LP Glazin’, the Boys are “feeling like a doughnut” and giving crushes “raspberry feelings,” not to mention the title track, where they’re “glazin’, glazin’, glazin’ for you.” Their deftness for fresh expression has many critics drawing comparisons to the Ramones, T. Rex and even the otherworldly Roy Orbison, who they joined many other punk bands in commemorating on the 2010 tribute album Our Boy Roy. (They did “You Got It,” and indeed, Jacuzzi Boys got it.)
Orlando is lucky to be near enough to Jacuzzi Boys that they call our town their second home. Their first LP, No Seasons, was released on Floridas Dying, a local label that does pop-up record shops at select shows (next one is April 10, Will’s Pub), and they’re pretty comfortable playing to the Uncle Lou’s crowd. Bassist Danny Gonzalez says Will’s Pub might be his favorite local venue. But the last time we welcomed them was in 2011, and we’ve missed the untouchable, wild romp of a live show they bring.
Now the band is on Seattle label Hardly Art, who released Glazin’ and will put out their new LP (due in September). Fans can also expect a new single out this summer, when their cannonball, pool-party vibe is probably best enjoyed anyhow. (Not like you’d expect a Miami band to pay attention to seasons, as their debut pointed out.) If you thought the songs on Glazin’ seemed like their most deliberate efforts yet, Gonzalez says they’ve spent an even longer time marinating the new material.
“Up until that point, [Glazin’] was the most time we had spent on a record, so that might have something to do with it. … And now with this new one we spent a bit longer even,” Gonzalez says. “We had lots of fun making it.”
Fun, which, oddly, can be such a stressful ambition on any project, is probably what Jacuzzi Boys are best known for. They’ve done splits with some of the gurus of gratifying live shows like King Khan and Nobunny, and when they come to town, Gonzalez says Golden Pelicans is the best local band to play with. But, as anyone who’s seen them live can attest, the Boys don’t need accomplices to bring it.
“We’re ready to party,” Gonzalez says.