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Photo by
Sara Stadtmiller |
MEMBERS/
MUSICIANS:
Tim Cronin: vocals
Jon Kleiman: Guitar
Jim Baglino: Bass
Matt Forman: Keyboards
Neil
O’Brien: Drums
HOMETOWN:
Red Bank, NJ
FORMATION
DATE:
your guess is as good as theirs. 1999. Had a party.
WEBSITE:
www.ribeyebrothers.com |
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The Ribeye Brothers were formed sometime in the late 90's, no one seems to be very clear on the exact date, when legendary lyricist Tim
Cronin (Former singer of Monster
Magnet) teamed up with a barely conscious Jon
Kleiman (Former drummer of Monster
Magnet). Their desire: To make the kind of music they knew would shoot straight up the charts, namely Garage/Country/Swamprock. And while the unbridled success and fame has thus far eluded them, hopes remain high that someday they will sell at least enough CD's to pay for Jon's Insatiable animal porn collection. After several lineup changes, they arrived at what is now often called their "current lineup". This includes bass player Jim
Baglino (Lord Sterling), keyboardist Matt
Forman and noted drummer Neil
O'Brien (Butterflies
Of Love).
The Ribeye Brothers' first album, If I
Had A Horse, was a substance-impaired collection of garage-psychedelic swamp rock which reminded listeners equally of the Gun
Club, early (early) Monster Magnet (no surprise there), and the
Seeds. It contained 12 songs, 2 of which were covers. Those included "Don't Pass Me By", penned by Ringo
Starr and ""How Does It Feel?" by the great 60's English band The
Creation. The remaining 10 songs may have sounded like covers, but under existing copyright laws, we can assure you, they are originals. In fact, "Mister Ray Charles" has become a bit of a country/garage/psych classic. If
I Had A Horse was released by the small, but enthusiastic label ALL-INDIE Records, but when the owner lost his only set of keys to the office, the label packed up and moved to Bulgaria, where the postal rates were much lower. This left the band with two options, join ALL -INDIE overseas where they would most likely spend their remaining days in homo-servitude, or find a new label. Luckily, for all involved, they chose the latter and are now with Times Beach Records.
The Ribeye Brothers' new album was tentatively titled Rubber
Soul, until someone pointed out that had been used already (that person was promptly fired). Now the album is titled Bar
Ballads And Cautionary Tales and includes the same mix of eclectic influences, but with a little less yodeling. That means that the public will be treated to an album chock-full of swamp-rock garage nuggets. Recorded in a short time on vintage equipment, Bar
Ballads And Cautionary Tales sounds as genuine as an old Zombies or Seeds LP; one can almost hear the dust and scratches of the old vinyl. These two bands count heavily in the Ribeye's influences, but the band is not that monophonic: as former and founding members of Monster
Magnet, Cronin and Kleiman understand, nay... verily invented modern psychedelia and stoner rock. And, as good students of Independent Music, The Ribeye
Brothers have also chosen to grace Ballads with a decidedly drug-crazed psychobilly cover of The
Minutemen's "Working Men Are Pissed," which should tell you something about what's going on in their twisted minds... or not.
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