For reasons that aren’t always entirely clear, there’s a longstanding relationship between rock music and cartoons.
In the early ’70s, we had TV series like “Josie and the Pussycats” and “The Jackson 5ive.” In the ’80s, “Heavy Metal” set a new standard, and then gave way to the Reagan-friendly “Jem and the Holograms.” The ’90s, of course, brought us “Beavis and Butt-head.” And by the end of the 20th century, an inspired collision of creativity and technology gave us the first legitimate animated rock band, the Gorillaz.
As we settle into the second decade of the 21st century, it appears that Denver’s own is poised to carry that torch forward, releasing its very own comic book tomorrow night at .
“We’ve always had this joke that our band was a cover because we’re all superheroes,” says Lil’ Slugger’s Ben Martin. “The reason none of us is any good is because we’re not really musicians.”
To make sense of Martin’s self-deprecating explanation of the comic book’s origin, you need to know a little bit about the music that inspired it. Lil’ Slugger began in Greeley, sharing a practice space with before both bands migrated to Denver.
“When we started the band, the idea was to get people who didn’t know how to play,” explains Martin. “There was some question,” he laughs, “about whether we were playing this kind of music because that’s what we want to play, or because we don’t have the skills to play anything else.”
In the art brut tradition — and following in the footsteps of pop outsiders like and — Lil’ Slugger uses its supposed naivete and ignorance of musical conventions in an attempt to create music unlike what’s been done before. The resulting sound — which you can hear by for free from the Hot Congress website — is a noisy, jangly mixture of and , and like the music of those acts, Lil’ Slugger’s cacophonous, shambolic rock is punctuated by moments of melody, euphony and beauty. And though Martin stumbles over adjectives like “improvisational” and “half-written,” he frequently uses the word “loose” to describe the outfit’s compositions.
While the comic book — actually the first in a four-book series to be released throughout 2010 — began as a joke to explain the group’s looseness and seeming lack of musical proficiency, the finished product is quite a bit different. Throughout the series, Martin and band mates Justin Couch, Heath March, Eric Ten-Hoeve and Joey Wiley bumble through life, trying to be a band, and frequently encountering walruses and other animals who try to advise them on how to achieve success.
“We try to be a band with no leader,” Martin says. “We try to have an equal say in all decisions, and the books end up being about Lil’ Slugger finding out what it really means to be a band without a leader.”
If that sounds a little self-serious, fear not. “It’s totally irreverent and silly and kinda meaningless,” chuckles Martin in that typically self-deprecating fashion. Martin and Couch wrote the books, and Martin’s girlfriend, Beth Link, drew all the pictures, which Martin himself then manipulated in Photoshop. “All credit goes to her,” he says, “and all blame goes to me. It was a totally nightmarish process and no one should ever do it.”
In spite of his winking put-downs of his own work, Martin is excited to share the first comic book this weekend. With a lineup that includes (“the best band in Denver,” says Martin) and former Colorado band (officially defunct, but reunited for just this show), there’s a sense of moment to Saturday’s show. “We tend to opt for fewer shows,” the guitarist says, “and for more special shows.”
Those shows end up feeling more like special events than simple concerts — spiked with bizarre costumes, unexpected performances and plenty of serendipidity. However, like Lil’ Slugger’s music, there’s an element of risk in any bold improvisation. “When it works, it’s great,” says Martin. “When it doesn’t, it’s a total disaster.”
Lil’ Slugger comic book release party, with Hot White and Good Old Fashioned Sinners, Saturday, May 22, at . Show up at 9 p.m. with $5 in your pocket.
Eryc Eyl is a veteran music journalist, critic and Colorado native who has been neck-deep in local music for many years. Check out every Tuesday for local music you can HEAR, and the every Friday.
