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“We’re like Otis
Redding’s band,” says 26 year-old bassist Rob
Jost of The Barbarians, “but Otis Redding’s not
making it to the show, and neither is his organist or guitar
player, therefore the audience is really mad, and so we have
to play really good.”
Article by Joe O'Brien |
| Although they originated as
an experimental jazz outfit while students at Alberta, Canada’s
Banff Centre, The Barbarians now operate out of Brooklyn with
one simple goal, according to Boston-born saxophonist Tony Barba,
24: “People (in New York) are pretty reserved. We always
encourage people to get up and have a good time and drink a
lot of beer.” As Jost mentioned, their lack of a show-stopping
frontman might pose a problem, if only the members of the band
weren’t blessed with such soul, talent, and infectious
stage presence. |
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| It certainly didn’t prevent
hipsters and metalheads alike from giving the fuck-all to cabaret
laws during the band’s November performance at Star Foods,
gleefully crowd-surfing while The Barbs hotwired a ’62
Vette and spun donuts with diesel-powered beats and burnt-rubber
saxophone smoke. The band was surprised to get such a reaction,
but it’s not so surprising considering their sound encapsulates
a fine mixture of influences into one giant rhythmic aphrodisiac: |
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Jost, formerly
of Boston’s Skavoovie and the Epitones, adds a bit of
ska and reggae foot-shuffling to the mix; Tony Barba (is there
a cooler name for a saxophone player?) draws inspiration from
‘60’s soul and 21st century hip-hop, and has toured
with the Glenn Miller Orchestra; trumpeter Eric Biondo (who
platoons with 24 year-old Jesse Newman) sharpens his pop sensibilities
on tours with The Monkees and The Drifters; and 26 year-old
drummer Brook Martinez (“if we were a boy band, I’d
be the shy one,” he jokes) cites Green Day’s Dookie
as a major influence. |
So if you’re a New
Yorker who’s not too cool to goof off, and who wants
to dance to a rock band that doesn’t sound like Gang
of Four, you just might find a match made in heaven with The
Barbarians. “We love you,” Barba often tells the
audience in between songs. “But we’d love you
even more if you’d get out of your chairs and dance!”
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