Stoley P.T. – Lesson #1: Listen First, then Decide
I thought for sure I’d hate Stoley P.T.’s new CD, Lesson #1, for several reasons:
1) It’s “the bong cat CD.†What is it about stoners and cats? The cover art looks straight off some junior high schooler’s pee-chee. But as our neighborhood pastor said, “It’s kind of cute how they put two cats and a bong on one side and two bongs and a cat on the other side.â€
2) “P.T.†stands for “Power Trio,†and I hate acronyms. I hate the “Sunny D†commercial, and I hate “DJs†who call Social Distortion “Social D.†And I hate names like “Stoley P.T.â€
3) In the band’s bio it says Stoley is an actor. Have you ever heard of a band fronted by an actor that is actually good?
I hate it when I’m wrong and I’m annoyed that I have to say this, but Stoley P.T.’s music is good. It sticks in your head so that you will start singing it under your breath in line at the grocery store and you’ll want to listen to it when you get home.
I like the vocals but
I thought for sure I’d hate Stoley P.T.’s new CD, Lesson #1, for several reasons:
1) It’s “the bong cat CD.†What is it about stoners and cats? The cover art looks straight off some junior high schooler’s pee-chee. But as our neighborhood pastor said, “It’s kind of cute how they put two cats and a bong on one side and two bongs and a cat on the other side.â€
2) “P.T.†stands for “Power Trio,†and I hate acronyms. I hate the “Sunny D†commercial, and I hate “DJs†who call Social Distortion “Social D†and I hate names like “Stoley P.T.â€
3) In the band’s bio it says Stoley is an actor. Have you ever heard of a band fronted by an actor that is actually good?
I hate it when I’m wrong and I’m annoyed that I have to say this, but Stoely P.T.’s music is good. It sticks in your head so much that you’ll probably start singing it under your breath while in line at the grocery store, and you’ll want to listen to it when you get home.
I like the vocals but they’re odd. Stoley has that Dinosaur Jr. appeal – he doesn’t have a lilting, melodic voice but it’s still fun to listen to. The slightly discordant harmonies work well too, especially when backed by some well-played instrumentals, some mixes of random people talking, some nice quasi-industrial computerized sounds, and the obligatory feedback. The lyrics aren’t much to speak of, but they’re not bad: They’re kind of clever, kind of catchy, but nothing to write home about. I do like the beginning line in “Good Morning Chest Painsâ€: “Good morning chest pains, it’s nice to have you back where you belong, and if I seem surprised it’s just I never bet you could get so out of control, so killin’ me softly, can’t turn away from this, destruction is so … just make me some coffee, let’s just pretend that we don’t know.†Dude, I can so relate. It’s all about coffee.
I can only imagine how fun their live shows must be. Sadly, it looks like they don’t have plans to play the West Coast any time soon. Maybe when Stoley makes more money as an actor, they’ll come out to my side of the country.