Wiiija/Beggars Banquet
This British quartet is led by a young American expatriate named Muffin Spencer (sister of Jon Spencer from Jon Spencer Blues Explosion), who warbles and snarls with infectious glee over a churning mixture of punk-funky guitars, gutbucket drumming, muscular bass and virtuosic turntable scratching throughout Brassy’s very impressive debut album. Imagine Luscious Jackson with 50 percent more testosterone, or maybe a cross between Soul Coughing and the B-52s. Actually, another comparison comes to mind: If the Ramones had come along after hip-hop’s golden age and had DJ Swett on the decks, their early work might have sounded like this. With an average song length of 2 1/2 minutes, Brassy’s debut has more than a high snottiness factor in common with the work of those high priests of punk. Funky beats, aggressive guitars and sing-along choruses—what more could you ask for?