Vegas Car Crashers

Description

Vegas Car Crashers is the sophomore album by the American alternative pop/rock band Silage, released on Sublime Records in 1998. It was December 1998 Pick of the Month at The Phantom Tollbooth.

After their ska-style debut album, Silage have stripped down to a three piece and have opted for a harder alternative modern rock sound. Produced by Todd Collins (Gotee Brothers), ‘Vegas…’ features Chuck Cummings on drums and turntables courteously of DJ Form, adding an interesting and compelling element to the proceedings. Unlike many ‘alternative’ bands, Silage’s latest offering keenly expresses the desire to push already well-established musical boundaries, by breaking new ground themselves. Take «Original», where hard-hitting rhythms periodically give way to laid-back grooves punctuated by some intriguing lead work, over which Howe’s compelling rap-tinged vocals can be heard. Well arranged, mixed and executed, ‘Vegas Car Chasers’ comes highly recommended for those bored with a genre that is fast becoming overcrowded. [Alex Figgis, Cross Rhythms, June 1999]

Let’s get lost in an original sound

I heard a band that was better
Than the last one around
This hasn’t been done before
This hasn’t been done before. (“Original”)

The last thing Silage intended with their latest single «Original» was to come off as a bunch of posers bragging about the originality of their new style. A casual listen to the song suggests such rap-artist type posing, however, which is out of character with the rest of the band’s message and artistry. And it’s a good thing, too, it would also be an empty boast. Their sound takes its biggest cues from dozens of “alternative” bands that have gone before them, especially those who have coupled something edgy and guitar-driven with hip hop and rap styles. Can I get a witness? There are Aleixa, Beastie Boys, Big Audio Dynamite, The Cure, DC Talk, EMF, Faith No More, Fold Zandura, Nirvana, Mike Peters, PIL, Plumb, Prodigy, Rage Against the Machine, Seal, U2 and Whale, to name only a few. If you like those bands, Silage will certainly provide something similar to tickle your fancy. Gratefully, Silage also manage to scratch their own record. In true post-modern fashion, Silage borrow well, imitating a host of influences without repeating them. Just when you suspect them of tooting their own horn too much, they deliver an album of eleven tracks proving their versatility and creativity.

Silage appeared to be growing tired of ska, too. Though this new album is upbeat and offers a smattering of horns, it opts for less ska than their last album, Watusi. This new combination of pop smarts with punk energy and guitars, and more hip-hop and techno flavors, might have been likened to a union of Run DMC and the Ramones back in the eighties. You get the idea: loud in-your-face punk style guitars with funky back beats and plenty of studio oddities like scratching and samples. Today, this would more likely be called the result of crossing Green Day with Dr. Dre. Whatever you want to call it, it’s really well played; energetic, fun, catchy, supremely respectable and relentlessly upbeat.

The best news of all, Silage not only do a remarkable job playing songs with great pop vibes, they have something relevant to say. Using Las Vegas as a metaphor for modern day materialism and greed, they’ve penned a collection of songs that point to God as the only source of relief. This is most clear on «Credit Card», which is a dazzlingly fun encouragement to deal faithfully with the serious problem of running up debt:

I don’t need no credit card
Bringing me down…
I know we do what we got to do
Got to make it through these times
Just to live, just to eat, you know I’d like to sleep
Without thinking about or worrying about those bills
Dear God, just help me sit still.

Another highlight is «Billboards» which chastises the so-called Christian life most folks lead as being like a bubble with no trouble where Jesus is obscured by billboards and pillars. Not all of their analogies are as clever, however, and «Ketchup is Mustard» uses mustard-less sandwiches as a metaphor for faith without love “to spread.” The fact that the song is fun makes up for the lyric’s corniness.

What else do you need to know? The rhymes are fun; the lyrics mostly clever and included in the sleeve. Everything is well played and extremely well produced. Chuck Cummings, of Dakota Motor Co. and LSU/Aunt Betty’s fame, not only helped write a lot of the songs, he officially joined the band as drummer. The bass player and guitar player are obviously brothers. Knowdaverb guests as a rapper on «Verb». Todd Collins of the Gotee Brothers did most of the synths and programming. The packaging has wonderful photo shots of the band in Vegas. All the songs are good, but there should have been more of them. The album is two songs too short of a full load. The overall result is positive, new, exciting… and affordable.

The people who can make a band a big hit prefer pop with less bite, so Silage may be too aggressive-sounding to be the next big thing. But this new album and their current tour with Burlap to Cashmere and Jars of Clay should generate them the bigger fan base they deserve. Oh, and don’t let the metal-band name fool you. Silage has captured something rare: an electric company’s worth of energy to fuel their great pop sensibilities, relevant messages, and big, full contemporary sound. Put this band on your list of hot up-and-coming bands well worth checking out. [Steven Stuart Baldwin, The Phantom Tollbooth, 11/8/98]

> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/vegas-car-chasers/319521746)

CD tracklist:

01. Original – 2:15
02. Yo Tengo – 3:35
03. Billboards – 3:20
04. Why … Sure – 3:36
05. Verb (feat. Knowdaverb) – 4:02
06. Credit Card – 3:54
07. Walks & Strolls – 3:33
08. Great Alaskan Ninja – 3:00
09. Ketchup Is Mustard – 3:08
10. Beatnik – 3:11
11. Vegas Car Chasers – 3:44