The Art Punk Band is Grateful Dead meets Daniel Johnston. It is a back porch jamboree with liquored up musicians egged on by tone deaf neighbors. It’s The Holy Model Rounders squared. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, don’t worry. The Art Punk Band have no idea what they are singing about.

But sometimes you just gotta go with the flow. The three free and legal albums, currently available through Jamendo, present this band in all their outsider glory. This is easy music to like despite all its flaws. It is joyous, celebratory, and even a little innocent. The best description might be psychedelic 60s folk rock and it certainly carries influences from the Byrds to Country Joe and The Fish. Lyrically, the three albums can be a lot of fun. Zeno and The Happy Cats is especially quirky. I like the lyrics on “The Park” which is a rant about commercial obsessiveness (”Stop Shopping! Stop Shopping!”). “That What Zeno Say” is a happy jam of jazz and rock. As outside as it gets, The Art Punk Band never loses track that they are a feel-good band.

The Other Side of (Zeno And The Happy Cats is a lot more folksy and does sound like it may have been recorded on a back porch. This is a much better album due to these country and folk elements. “Gravy Train” and “Corn Whisky” are interesting songs but “Whistle a Tune” is a soft meander that is actually a bit of a gem .

The final album is Tha Baron’s Country. Is it possible that these guys are pulling it together? There’s some nice songs on here, Grateful Dead is definitely being channeled with a guest influence from Arlo Guthrie. “Dracula’s Daughter” and “Past Life (Unconditionally)’ are worth a listen. I’m not sure you will want all three albums but any one of them will put a smile on your face.

All three albums are available in 192kbps MP3 format.

Download
Zeno and The Happy Cats
The Other Side of (Zeno and The Happy Cats
Tha Baron’s Country