now aaron and the giraffes have parted ways but (thankfully!) both are still playing. last thursday marked the debut of aaron’s latest project, with himself on vox/guitar and mitchell king on drums - DON’T.

to get straight to the point with a band that is clearly about doing just that – i fucking love DON’T. i really do. it’s an incredible feeling to hear music for the first time and be moved by it, so much that you just close your eyes and feel it completely. it’s also incredible to watch just TWO musicians fill a space with their immense sound.

aaron and mitchell are a really intense unit – i honestly feel like nothing else is needed. mitchell is INSANE on that kit (seriously.. wow, man) and aaron brings his bluesy notes and nasty melodies back to ears like ours that have truly missed them. i also appreciate that although the songs are emanating from the same source, DON’T is something different.. the gypsy aesthetic of rumanian buck is replaced with something markedly darker – the sound gets so heavy it almost feels industrial, but the melody is never forsaken – along with the powerful grit and smooth soulfulness in aaron’s voice that will always set him apart.

you can catch the rest of their month-long residency at the grand victory in brooklyn!

roll up @ 8pm:

Thurs Feb 9th: Don’t, Powerblessings, The Evil Us
Thurs Feb 16th: Don’t, bbigpigg, The Whores, Trabajo
Thurs Feb 23rd: Don’t, The Pioneers of Seduction, Cobretti, Beef Wellington

they’ve also got a new website and a facebook – DON’T make me tell you what to do.. (har dee har)

PS!

we’d also like to throw props to aaron for doing something DIFFERENT and sending out actual screenprinted CA$H (chingity ching) as invites to the residency shows.. seriously. we both got this in the mail. you know.. in an envelope. with a handwritten address. delivered by THE POSTMAN.

you’re an asshole if you miss this (and i mean that in the best way possible ;)).

- da leopard

photos by audrey leopard, ca$h money photo via mr. lazar

so.

IT HAPPENED.

the last GIRAFFES show with aaron lazar – SOLD OUT.

it was fucking AMAZING. they killed it.

and the crowd. was. INSANE. so thankfully our awesome SNT brother in arms EDDEN spent his time videoing from the side of the stage and caught all the action of the last couple of songs.

check it out!

HAUNTED HEAVEN [end] (from the giraffes LP)

CLEVER GIRL (from prime motivator)

MAN U (from the giraffes LP)

DONE (from prime motivator)

yes and yes and yes.

what’s next? stock up on giraffes CDs (& the DVD!) and check out this AWESOME article from brooklyn vegan featuring killer pix from the show and interviews with each giraffe. you can also find more vids – from the pit perspective this time – on youtube.

BEST. BAND. EVER. no contest.

- da leopard

if it’s one thing people know about us, or one thing they could tell from this site – it’s that we are hardcore GIRAFFES fans. we preach the gospel to everyone we know and rave about the shows because they are, quite frankly, the BEST we’ve ever seen, even though we’ve seen them over. and over. and over again since 2006.

without getting too sentimental.. we all got the word that aaron is leaving the giraffes. he did it with dignity, and we heard it straight from the man himself. we love the guys and their collective whole too much to have any ill feelings about it, and are looking forward to the next chapter in both of their adventures (which apparently includes PODCASTS?!?!).

yet still – it’s the end of an era! i’d cue a montage if i had one.. but in the end we have show after show after show of amazing and hilarious memories to look back on. and, of course, we’ll have the MUSIC! it was and will always be a huge part of our leopard-whiptastic saga. and so, for that.. for all that was and all that will be:

GIRAFFES, WE SALUTE YOU!

thank you for the music, the laughs, the rock, and the raunch – and for the best damn show we will ever fucking see.

here’s a look back: the giraffes on sugar -n- thunder!

THE GIRAFFES: the show to end all shows

insert witty title here.. listen to rumanian buck & the giraffes! blood, meat, gore, dancing. RIBS. yes, RIBS.

giraffes birthday advice is gettin’ around..

giraffes in a box?!

Maybe You Thought We Couldn’t Write Anymore About The Giraffes

There’s a reason The Giraffes are the shit

the giraffes on fearless music tv

ahahaha: the giraffes & beyond race mag

and to sum it all up, my qro mag review of the boys @ webster hall!

To put it simply: The Giraffes are what great rock n’ roll forgot it was. They’re incomparable on CD, and in-your-face live shows deliver time after time, even if you’ve seen them over and over again. The show is dangerous, comical, sinister, raunchy, and over the top all at once – they’ll impress you technically while blowing out your ears, sharing cigs, whiskey, and beer, and of course, truly entertaining you in every sense of the word. [...]

These boys have toyed with serpentine Middle Eastern sounds, nasty rock and roll romps, unflinching confrontations of mortality, sprawling wordless jams, haunting slow tempos, and that which cannot be described at all besides The Giraffes’ own brand of modern musical virtuosity. They can’t be pinned into a particular genre, but rock n’ roll and its old rebellious spirit – that is still alive and well in a band like The Giraffes – is what comes closest. The craziest thing is of all is that perhaps they don’t even realize just how much of an indelible mark they make at every damn show they play. Readers, do you need a diagram? Go see this band – your Giraffes-battered senses will thank you for reminding them what it feels like to be alive.

And it feels good, baby. Real good.

salute the man in high style – catch aaron’s last show with the giraffes on 2/5/11 @ mercury lounge!

- da leopard

so. THE MUTHAF&@*(!&#(*! GIRAFFES, rock/surf/metal straight out of BROOKLYN, NY. in short: ridiculously, insanely talented. ridiculously, insanely funny! awesome! raunchy! ingenious! one of the best bands EVER and a band that has been close to the cap & i’s loins hearts since we saw them way back in 2006.

they literally put on the show to end all shows every time they play (hence the title). these boys have been up to some hardcore awesomez since we last wrote, and – well… YOU! NEED! TO! KNOW!

1. THE GIRAFFES SHOW. FINALLY the divine madness of a LIVE giraffes show is officially caught on DVD – and CD! the giraffes show (available for purchase online!) was filmed at union pool in BK last summer and you KNOW we had to be there. so we were! we also got interviewed for the special features, AHEM. watch the trailer!

2. ROCK BAND. FINALLY, mainstream video games have caught the f@#& up: ‘DONE,’ a sick track from the giraffes’ last full-length, prime motivator, can now be purchased for rock band. grab that shiz HERE and check out a preview below.

3. NEW JAMZ A-COMIN’. or so we are told on the book of the face, and a HELL of a back-catalog you should check out NOW. their last (unofficial) release was the very aptly titled the giraffes ruled EP, which is just insane. 2 tracks that immediately come to mind: ‘the border’ rips your face off, and ‘the city’ is just a total nasty/gorgeous mini-epic. unfortunately it doesn’t seem like you can snag it online but only at shows. orrrr if you wire the cap & i some $$z (see also: gifts &/or hallucinogens) WE can snag it for you. if you know what i’m sayin’.

4. you know what else you should check out? SNT ALL UP IN THE ACTION.

here’s my super-juicy review of the giraffes for QRO Mag, and the grand finale, mr. whiptastic’s video of ‘the border’ and ‘done’ from the same show. DOUBLE YR PLEAZURE.

the giraffes RULE! yes, in present tense, because they continue to do so.

- da leopard!

i believe i found this sassy, portland-based lady thanks to everyone’s favorite pink-haired aussie blogger, gala darling. i just wanted to promote this gal’s efforts because i LOVE the necklace she made me — and if you’re anything like me, then you want to rock a fancy-a$$ necklace that says something hella perverted like pole smoker, hussy, pillow biter, sleaze, slutbag, etc.

WELLLLL..

the giraffes’ official/unofficial rallying cry is ‘smoke cock,’ right?

ta-da.

how classy am i?

how classy is TRASHYDELUXE for banging this baby out for me?

(captain is quite classy too for buying it for me for xmas.. chingching$ <3)

anyway.. seriously. hit this lady up for all your perverse necklacey needs. or just pop off a pearl necklace and call it a day. one lasts and one doesn’t. YOUR CALL.

check out trashydeluxe on etsy!

and if i haven’t mentioned it before — which i know i haven’t — etsy is AWESOME. ‘your place to buy & sell all things handmade.’ they have AMAZING stuff on there.. check it out!

<3

da leopard

‘slippercrumble’ live @ santos party house, 12/15/08, filmed by captain

and so without further ado, ladies & gentlemen, back we go to giraffes frontman aaron lazar’s solo project, RUMANIAN BUCK! we saw them on 2/28 @ the annex, sandwiched between RIBS and the netherlands for RB’s long-anticipated CD RELEASE!

the RB shows seriously get better every time. aaron & crew have worked hard to bring the DIY feel of the original tracks to the stage (without their instruments exploding/imploding). this time nothing could be better than the cap & i dancing in the front row with jens and damien giraffe. you HAVE to dance to this shit! you just do! seriously though — it was a BLAST. they own it.

andddd… now you can DOWNLOAD THE EP! and you really, really should. mp3s of all tracks and a pdf of liner notes & lyrics — where else can you see a bottle of xanax listed as an instrument? aaron, you so crazy.

the live version of RUMANIAN BUCK featuresssss..
aaron lazar (the giraffes) — vox & guitar
danny barria (the big sleep) — guitar
mishka shubaly (beat the devil & ribs) — bass
mitchell king (beat the devil & ribs) — drums
jessie blockton (the vitamen) — keys

BUT for a look back on how the project began, you should read an article that i’ll post here for your convenience.. ;D thanks, eric sanchez! whoever you are.. -looks around-

+ + + + +

here’s an album review of the rumanian buck EP as published in LIC art & music mag, ins&outs magazine, vol. II issue 03:

D.I.Y. never sounded as good as this! Singer/artist Aaron Lazar (The man behind the mic in Brooklyn’s own The Giraffes, and the art in Tzgani Design) brings us his newest gift to those out there looking for something interesting in this world full of repetition: Rumanian Buck. In a city where almost any sound has been recycled and repeated over and over again, then once more for good measure, Lazar has again proven he always has more to offer. Starting off by messing around with the program GarageBand on his laptop while on the road with The Giraffes, Lazar has built up his homemade sound into something layered with style and soul, yet still sounding more beat up than clean cut. He notes that the sound is somewhat similar to that of Tom Waits, who is known for using unconventional sounds and methods of recording that are considered by many, according to Lazar, to be “wrong and ghetto.” Lazar was exposed to Waits’ method while both were working with The Book of Knots on their second album, Traineater, back in 2006. While noting the similarities, Lazar says jokingly, “The only reason he’s doing it wrong is because he wants to, not that he has to.” Recorded in his own home with no fancy studio-style setup, Lazar has all he needs.

The heart of Rumanian Buck is really the drums – a percussion sound working off an Eastern European Gypsy style that was originally played on his girlfriend’s exercise ball as a bass drum and a CD case as a snare. According to Lazar, “The drums come first, then the vocals, then anything else… I live in a noisy neighborhood, so sometimes I’ll get random shit that comes through [while recording], too.” He adds to his raw sound by using some old guitars – one being an acoustic with a broken neck, and another a brandless electric given to him by his grandmother when he was 16. Lazar also uses a lot of rhythmic clapping along with any other wild sounds he sees as fitting, including keys, plates and even quarters. While describing how he works up a song, Lazar explains, “I almost never have a plan, I just like playing around with things… It’s actually a lot of fun.” Though some of the songs may not have the happiest subject matter, throughout the entire album you can really hear that Lazar is truly enjoying himself.

Starting off with “Slippercrumble,” one of the heaviest songs on the album, Lazar throws you right into the Rumanian Buck feel. With a simple but heavy guitar riff, a beat that sounds like playing drumsticks on a table, lots of clapping and distorted vocals, this song is an instant favorite. The following track, “It’s Me,” is one of the catchiest songs – between the opening riff, intro lyrics, and the style of the chorus (which varies each time and sounds sung in one breath!), it’s guaranteed to be stuck in your head. Another standout track is “Crack in My Tooth,” which, after the rush of the first couple of tracks, mellows down with Lazar’s voice undistorted and singing slowly, backed with just a few acoustic notes and a low beating sound.

The second to last track is “Tineretze.” The intro is somewhat hypnotic with its sliding guitars, and later with Lazar dubbing himself in humming in the background. As one of the sadder tracks, seeming to reflect on some of the more recent difficult times experienced with The Giraffes, this song is actually far from depressing. Opening with the lyrics, “Remember when you were told, you’d save rock ‘n roll, now you’re getting too old, you’re moving slow, nobody says that you’re clever no more,” it can seem like this song is about to bring you down. But by the end, the song has more of an uplifting sound, which is revealing of the kind of person Aaron Lazar is – an artist, musician, and individual who keeps looking ahead to something, no matter how hard this world has been for him.

Seemingly short at seven tracks (but running near forty minutes), Rumanian Buck stands against the most polished and primed albums out there with its genuine character and soul you can hear in every note, every clap, and every random sound playing through your speakers.

+ + + + +

yeah, yeah! i’d like to finish off by saying SEE THEM, SOON. aaron dreamed up such a genuinely different, gritty, dancey, gypsy, experimental mix-up of sound that translates AMAZINGLY live. when the drums and the rest of the instruments kick in and it’s all right in front of you, it really overtakes you. and it’s SO fucking fun.. so you know what to do.

now for more PROPAGANDA!

NEXT UP is saturday, march 7th @ union pool with — who else — THE GIRAFFES!!

playing a show & premiering their video for ‘prime motivator’ directed by b.a. miale! also with i’m in you & moon rabbits. should be delicious and bloody and beer-y. as usual. CAN’T WAIT!

according to el giraffos themselves: “By the time she [b.a. miale] was done with us, we had sailed the murky waters of the Kings Plaza Marina; decimated a pinata in a frozen, rusty-nail festooned alley; been soaked with fake (and perhaps some real) blood and vomit; and put the ‘sloppy’ in some truly sloppy joes. All this, and we weren’t even around for the stop action sequence featuring He-Man villains and a set made entirely of meat from Key Food, with us four Giraffes as stop-action figures.”

for 8$ you’ll get: “The VIDEO DEBUT, and THE GIRAFFES LIVE (pure beef!) at 10.30 pm, I’M IN YOU (putting the ‘mental’ in instrumental) at 9.30 pm, MOON RABBITS (Brooklyn’s premiere potty-mouths) at 8.30 pm. Plus, DJ Jackie Roman on the double decks from heck. And a patio filled with young, wide-eyed, fresh-faced new arrivals, eager to learn all about New York.”

or VD. whichever. (will the std jokes ever end? NO! … maybe.)

BE THERE!

HAAVVV OFF!!! rock,
da leopard

side note. my dad is now listening to CHUMBAWAMBA. it’s happening. OH YEAH. AND.. i have a hundred other things to mention, BUT i just want to say that i listened to THESE songs over and over and over while at work today:

gONNA gET gOT (bklyn) — my bullshit pontiac remix (ggg & MSI mashup)
[the cap got me fuckin HOOKED on ggg!!! bastard.. i love it]
goNNA gET gOT — the girl ain’t ready
rumanian buck (bklyn) — slippercrumble
rumanian buck — the flood
hops (queens) — sometimes
[just spoke to this guy for the first time today -- love his shit!]
illimanjaro (queens) — not invited
[these guys are also from my 'hood of astoria, queens! check them out!!!]
pass kontrol (bklyn) — love is a dog from hell
demander (bklyn) — books
gutter & spine (queens) — d’orca
little embers (queens) — phraseology

nice bklyn & queens balance, eh? there’s fucking AMAZING things going on in my li’l big ol’ boro right now.. seriously! iheartqueens.

as it should be?!

err.. MERRY XMAS, PEOPLE! ;D

nothing like being up at 2:21 am on xmas eve searching for “sugarnthunder” on google.. and finding that captain’s giraffes birthday advice video has found its way onto some really fucking RANDOM a$$ sites.

uhhh..

VIETVIDEO.COM???

and even on the UK’s NME.com under their collection of vids for the giraffes.

fuckin sweet?! or fuckin ripoff?! whichever.

just funny.

holly-daze -n- shit

<3

da leopard

ps rumanian buck’s “the flood” owns my life. the end.

Rumanian Buck

As if the release of Prime Motivator wasn’t enough, The Giraffes’ singer Aaron Lazar brings to the world some new tunes with a side style known as Rumanian Buck.

Now I would write more but I actually already have. So if you click on this link here (which brings you to a very awesome magazine worked on by none other than Sugar – n – Thunder’s resident Leopard), click on music on the left side bar and scroll past a couple of other awesome music reviews, you will see an article on Rumanian Buck written my by alter-ego, Eric Sanchez.

Enjoy,

El Capitan WhiptasticO  (that’s what a person with the last name Sanchez would call me)

P.S. Check out Lazar’s new freaky styles in the music player over to the right (“Slippercrumble”!)

P.P.S. I’m working on getting more footage of Rumanian Buck’s Debut at Santos Party House during the Punk Rock Pillow Fight, to cut together something pretty. Update on that shizz to cum.

edit/
WORD, it’s the leopard. -laughs hardcore @ el capitan whiptastico- oh, spanish people. rumanian buck was AWESOME, i was seriously floored. even more SURREAL was the way the rest of the giraffes, goes cube, and others were dancing around and jumping up and down on the pillow fight mattresses while RB was playing. crack fantasy, much? I LOVED IT. haha. speaking of which, check out these pix from the show from metromix & the lovely jackie roman over at limewire music blog. YEAH!

.. is it tomorrow yet??? is it tomorrow yet??!?!?!

can’t. fucking. WAIT.

“The Giraffes will be releasing our long awaited full length PRIME
MOTIVATOR nationwide on 11/11/08 thanks to Crustacean Records.
We will be performing the entire album from front to back
along with party hits and classics at our NYC CD Release show:
Saturday 11/15/08
Mercury Lounge
w/ Goes Cube & Ribs”

…………

-CREAMS SELF-

end transmission.