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urchin press & fans speak out
contents:
 4/2/01
- unpop.com reviews the urchin cmj festival show in nyc
12/8/00 Nosebleed17.com reviews the
EP
11/4/00
John Brown from Blade Music reviews the EP.
9/19/00 Michigan Daily gives our EP
a C+, but seem to like it.
9/00 Globalhiphop.com reviews our
new EP.
8/14/00 CMJ reviews our new EP and
they like it! Ron Hart is a good man.
7/31/00 The Getaway People
Salute The URCHIN!!!!!!!
5/31/00 WEEN FANS RESPOND
TO THE URCHIN!!!!
5/3/00 GREAT URCHIN ARTICLE
IN THE ITHACA TIMES!!!!
4/27/00 AN OLD URCHIN FAN CHECKS
IN!!!!
4/13-4/26/00 THE SANTA CRUZ
VS. BERKELEY SAGA (W/ NEW EVIDENCE IN THE CASE!!!!!!!
11/29/99 ENGLAND IS
CONVERTED!!!!
11/17/99 FINLAND IS
CONVERTED!!!!
10/8/99 Iowa City is
converted to URCHIN
9/1/99 Foundry Music
Reviews Space Station on the 4,5 & 6
6/24/99 NEW URCHIN FAN
COMMENTS VIA STEVEN E-MAIL
5/17/99 URCHIN CD review in
Cover Magazine by Bernard Davis
4/24/99 - "Menant gets
rocked!!!!" - Baggot Inn show review
4/24/99 - "JB3 gets
rocked!!!!" - Baggot Inn show review
4/8/99 - "A word to
the urchin boys from a fan"
4/7/99 - What John Brown
The Third has to say about URCHIN after SXSW
3/25/99 - Incredible Review
of URCHIN at SXSW
1/99 - What Ween Fans (and
Ween) had to say about URCHIN
1/99 - L'Entrepot from
Belgium Review
12/98 - Splendid E-Zine
Review
10/98 - Launch CD-ROM
Magazine (Jim Beam's Back Room)
4/2/01 unpop.com reviews
the urchin cmj festival show in nyc
- The
Sound of Urchin
at Lion's Den
It's never very common to find drummers fronting
bands and The Sound Of Urchin's show wasn't
anything like Don Henley's days with The Eagles.
They actually rocked out much harder. But drummer
and funny farm escapee, Tomato, scared the hell
out of us with his neurotic outbursts. I couldn't
tell if those were ice picks or drums sticks. The
rest of the band seemed to keep their distance on
stage as well. There's some of that trendy
“rock meets hip-hop” slant to the
music, but with much more guttural, screeching
vocals. Even though they signed to RCA in early
2000, you couldn't find these guys wooing the
hearts of young teenage girls. Instead, fans of
Limp Bizkit or Marilyn Manson may soon discover
their new heroes.
[Dhu Siddappa]
12/8/00 Nosebleed17.com reviews
the EP (go visit the site)
- From
New York, The Sound of Urchin is a four man band
with a new RCA Records release. The CD is the
bands debut album, a five song EP featuring the
songs "Mr. Hanalei", "Cherry
Mountain (Herdin' The Sheep)", "Quiz
Show Spy", "Fearless Vampire
Killers", and "Space Station On The 4,
5, & 6". As you can probably gather just
from the sound titles, this CD is very
interesting, to say the least. The Sound of
Urchin has a very unique sound filled with
different styles like funk, punk, rock, and even
some hip-hop grooves topped with lyrics that
complete the odd mixture. The vocals are harsh
sometimes, but the majority of the time are
rapped or spoken and sung as melodies the rest of
time Their sound is one that is catchy, by this I
mean that before you know it, you are into the
vibe without even realizing it. If you are
looking for something a little on the crazy side,
but still capable of meeting your rock needs, try
these guys out. There is nothing in particular I
would reccommend to change about their music,
it's performed well, it's just not my favorite
simply because I'm more into metal, and this is a
little slower most of the time. A good CD though,
check into it. Oh, and cool guitar work
throughout the CD too, I like it especially on
the last part of the EP.
11/4/00
John Brown from Blade Music reviews the EP.
- I
have been an avid Sound of Urchin fan for over
two years. I have seen countless shows, and
listened to their premier StevenRecords demo CD
hundreds of times (sorry, they are totally all
gone and definitely now a collector's
item!). I just received Urchin's newest RCA
Records EP produced by Dean Ween and Chris
Shaw. I can't believe my ears! These
guys are totally amazing, and show no signs of
slowing down! From the night I saw my first
Urchin show, there was no doubt left in my
mind... The Sound of Urchin has TALENT.
Dean Ween and Chris Shaw have tapped the Urchin
talent pool, hit the rockin' nail right on the
head and added the perfect layer of production
wax needed; Urchin shines brightly . I
can't wait for the full RCA release!
9/19/00
Michigan Daily gives our EP a C+, but seem to like it.
- The
Sound of Urchin has an interesting heavy, funky,
cartoon - rock sound, the best of which is
reminiscent of Mudhoney and the worst of which is
reminiscent of open-mike night down at the local
all-ages club. Luckily for them, Urchin gets
automatic indie-rock points since the EP is
produced by the ever-popular Dean Ween.
The
five-song EP is heavy and guitar-driven,
interspersed with surprising melodies and
substantial bits of rap and funk. The first
track, "Mr. Hanalei," is a crazy,
dissonant song with crunching guitars. Even
better, it's about exploring a haunted cave
("my grandfather said don't go there so I
never go").
Things
start to go downhill with "Cherry
Mountain," which has the unfortunate
resemblance to the hit Third Eye Blind had on MTV
a few years back. Complete with meaningless,
generic riffs, it sounds like the band got stoned
and thought that chanting "herdin' the
sheep" would sound totally awesome.
The
only thing that (almost) saves it are the magical
effects that come in right before the astute
chorus of "keep it going on 'cause it's
going on." The following song, "Quiz
Show Spy," doesn't get much better.
"Fearless
Vampire Killers" is the EP's high point -
it's nothing but blissful vocal melodies that
would make the Bangles and Cheap Trick proud.
A
cleverly constructed piece of power-pop ear
candy, this is a quirky classic with great
lyrics.
"Space
Station on the 4, 5 &6" - there's some
seriously wacky 70s-inspired stuff going on in
this fantastical piece that laments the
"permanent vacation" of Aerosmith and
fantasizes about meeting Steven Tyler and Joe
Perry while working in an office.
Overall,
the Sound of Urchin is like riding on a spaceship
- at times it's a bumpy and uncomfortable ride,
but you're ultimately rewarded with glimpses of
the stars.
Grade:
C+
9/00 Globalhiphop.com reviews
our new EP.
- The Sound
Of Urchin is an underground rock band from NYC
that have just given birth to their first major
label (EP) release. The thing that sets these
guys a part from most bands is that all 4 members
(Tomato11, Reverend B-Ill, Doo Doo Brown &
Scotty Choc) are all awesome musicians. These
guys push the envelope and never conform to one
style. Even though I said they are a rock band,
this doesn't mean that they won't play funk, punk
& even hiphop grooves. The leader of the
group, drummer Tomato11, is lyrically a cross
between Schooly D and Phil Collins on crack. This
gives Tomato a rapping type of flow with lyrics
that are hilarious yet personal. When I say
rapping, this isn't so you should compare Urchin
to bands like Limp Bizkit and Korn. Musically,
these bands are not in Urchin's class. Hip Hop
purists may not feel 'The Sound' but those
willing to expand their repertoire to include an
album with live guitars will enjoy their fresh
sounds and concepts. The EP starts off with the
power riffs of "Mr. Hanalei." The beat
sounds like an unreleased Led Zeppelin tracks
with lyrics about the famous Hawaii trip taken by
the Brady Bunch. This leads into "Cherry
Mountain (Herdin' The Sheep)", an infectious
tune that will have you turned into a sheep ready
for herdin, ya heard! Other tracks embedded with
funk include "Quiz Show Spy" and
"Space Station On The 4,5,& 6."
"Quiz Show Spy" starts out all nice and
funky but ends up a no-holds-barred all out hard
rockin' assault on your eardrums. The only song
on the EP that didn't blow me away is
"Fearless Vampire Killers," a
relentless rocker. All in all, the only real
fault with this album is that it's not a whole
album, it's only an EP and this will leave Urchin
fans fiending for more. Production was done by
Chris Shaw & Dean Ween (of the band Ween) and
this results in a tight uncompromised sound.
Those with open minds to rock music and hybrids
of rock and funk should pick this up. For more
info check out The Sound
Of Urchin
website.- Spindianna Holmes
8/14/00 CMJ
reviews our new EP and they like it! Ron Hart is a good
man.
- here's
the review below, but see for yourself if you
want, at www.cmj.com
"There's no one making noise on the college
radio charts in 2000 quite like Sound Of Urchin.
Dean Ween, friend and co-producer of the group's
eponymous debut EP, considers the band to be the
second greatest outfit in rock today (behind his
own, of course). With a style that recalls a
mutant compound between '70s arena rockers
Mountain, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and early
Limp Bizkit, augmented by the musical ethics of a
hardworking jam band, this Brooklyn quartet waxes
poetic in its self-titled debut EP's myriad of
suburban allegories. SOU's cartoon-like
imagination manages to establish a common ground
between suburban malls and what the band would
call a "space station on the 4, 5 and
6" NYC subway line.
-Ron Hart "
7/31/00 The
Getaway People Salute The URCHIN!!!!!!!!
- excerpt
from their website at www.getawaypeople.com
"Onwards and northwards. Back to Maine and
the quaint little town of Winooski, outside
Burlington. The venue is an old acquaintance of
ours called “Higher Ground”, once
visited in the company of our dear friends in
“Guster”. By coincidence, their old
soundguy Bennet was there with a band called
“Funky Miracle”. They were funky as
hell, playing only “Meters”- covers.
But the real treat was “Sounds of
Urchin”, a 4- piece from NY. Chris, the
singer and drummer is totally and utterly insane.
He’s a cross between Animal in the Muppets,
a Duracell rabbit on speed, and a Tazmanian Devil
that somebody just stepped on. And I mean this as
a compliment. The fierce energy and incredible
audacity he exhibits on stage is totally
mindboggling. Not only do you fear for his life,
but your faith in the power of Rock is thoroughly
restored. Hats off! Incidentally, they’ve
got an album out on RCA the 12th of September.
Check it out.
Also, they’re a band with a healthy and
sound instinct for good seafood…anyway,
you’d have to be there to get that
one…"
5/31/00
WEEN FANS RESPOND TO THE URCHIN!!!!
- "probably
one of the best shows we've ever done. thanks to
the sound of urchin for playing on friday
night...we had a blast." Dean Ween
"Hey , I saw you guys on Friday and you guys
ROCKED. We were the guys in the front you gave
guitar pick to . hhehehe, ill be coming to couple
more shows man with my friends to see you guys,
my name is Steve, you guys are awsome, keep
rocking dude. later =) ----- Congrats Ben"
"Hey guy from the URCHIN, I don't know if
you remember me from the Friday night show in New
York. I was the crazy guy in the front of the
line when you guys came in.
Later you took a picture of us and gave us a free
CD. Thanks a lot for the CD.You guys really
rocked it out that night. I'm glad to see you
guys are doing well. I looked at your site today
and it is pretty fuckin sharp. Keep up the good
work mang. Hope I can see you guys play again,
I'm pretty broke. Jason (the new crazy rock and
roll Urchin fan). check out my struggling band's
web site at therealdp.com
and tell me what you think. Thanks"
"Hey, if Urchin was that band that played
with the drummer/singer, i was uttterly
disappointed and annoyed by them. He, especially.
Ween's disinterest was startlingly apparent when
he came out on stage, seemingly unasked, to sing
'Hot for Teacher' with them. What kind of cocky
jerk gets up there with the godly Ween and jumps
up and down all hardcore-actin', giving the
(Ween) crowd the finger? I mean, Ween can be
crass, but they do it tactfully and artistically.
Was this guy giving the finger to Ween fans out
of jealousy? I mean, i and many others i talked
to were like "who the **ck IS this guy and
why is he being such a rude ****sucker to a crowd
full of Ween fans. He annoyed the hell out of me
there more than when he was with his own band.
You didn't see him giving HIS crowd the
finger--what gives? If this is the urchin I speak
of, please remove me from their mailing list. I
thought I signed up for a Ween list anyway.
Thanks..." jOsH
"The highlight of the night for me was when
Mickey and Tomato were singing Hot For Teacher on
the mic together! Good to see you guys! I think
you won over a lot of new fans..." Pat Frey
(Ween's Manager!)
"Hey guys, I saw you open up for Ween. Me
and my dudes were in the first row and we called
out to Tomato11 after the show, and he told us to
sign up for this shit. You totally rocked our
asses"
"Wow. I couldn't believe the show that you
guys put on at Irving Plaza. I stood in the front
row and as the curtains came up, I expected to
see ween... but it wasn't. There were a bunch of
guys that looked like they were dressed in
painters alfits; i thought it was a couple of
roadies playing a joke. It wasn't till they
started playing that I realized it wasn't a joke
at all.... and it was amazing how you guys
interacted with the crowd. Can't wait till the LP
comes out! - A huge Urchin Fan-" Brian
"You guys totally kicked some ass at Irving
Plaza on Friday! Me and my friends were just
totally blown out of the water. We were the guys
that yelled at Tomato after you were through
playing, when you guys were cleaning up and shit.
Fuckin shit, you guys rocked our asses."
5/3/00
GREAT URCHIN ARTICLE IN THE ITHACA TIMES!!!
- BY
STU FOX
One of my favorite
club shows happened last May when The Sound of
URCHIN opened for Coyote at The Haunt. The hard
rockin’ hip-hoppin’ Brooklyn group
began playing to a sparse crowd, and by the time
they concluded their smokin’ set, the place
was filling up and I had become an Urchinhead. I
realized that I was being swept away by strange
musical forces when their rhythm guitarist, who
calls himself Hollywood Scotty Choc and dresses
like a lounge lizard refugee from the cast of
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, began giving away
CDs on stage.
"We
used to do it at the end of every show to get
people into the band," says drummer and
rapper Tomato11. "We knew it would come back
to us somehow by helping build our fan base. Ween
helped us get off the ground by giving us the
opening spot on their ‘98-’99 mini
tour. We were only five months old, and we got to
play in front of tons of people, and we threw
tons of CDs into the crowd. We knew that someday
the right person would get it and that would be
the right label for us."
The
band recently signed with RCA and their first
major label release comes out this July.
"It’s definitely more representative of
the band than the first EP," says Tomato11.
Two songs from their first recording have been
revamped for the new album. Their classic
"Space Station On The 4,5 & 6" has
been transformed from its original hip-hop groove
into an explosive rocker, and the jazzy grooves
and laid back vocals of "Quiz Show Spy"
have metamorphed into an edgy rocker that
decomposes into garage band insanity. The best
new number is "Cherry Mountain (Herdin’
The Sheep)" which pulsates through a wild
sing-along chorus.
You
can experience some hot rock grooves at The Haunt
on Thursday when The Sound of URCHIN opens for
the Tamara J. Brown Band. Cornell students can
also catch the Brooklyn rock soldiers outside of
the Theta Delta Thi fraternity on University
Avenue Friday afternoon.
4/27/00 AN
OLD URCHIN FAN CHECKS IN!!!!
- Hey
man ~ Dude, i'm so stoked for your RCA album to
finally hit the shelves. I been telling all
record stores i walk into to be ready for the
Sound of Urchin is on its way ! I've been one of
your biggest fans since your Equinunk gig. Bought
some live albums and other Urchindise and can't
get enough of it. Totally shocked my shirt
doesn't got holes all over yet. So anyways, just
wanted to say congrats on the deal and
everything. Best luck and all that . . . and hey,
when are you gonna play long island ?? (yea, i
don't like it either, but i'm stuck here so visit
often as you'd like) ~Peace~ Matt
4/13-4/26/00
THE SANTA CRUZ VS. BERKELEY SAGA!!!!
.............. 4/26/00 - KAT ENTERS
NEW EVIDENCE INTO THE CASE!!!
- As
the gal responsible for introducing urchin to
santa cruz (and bolivia dammit!) i just need to
clarify something to our rival fans in
berkeley......sorry guys, you were not there
first. I'd have to say it was a fair tie.... i
too was at that fateful ween show back in the
last century. i entered the lovely trocadero only
to catch the last frenzied moments of green green
gold. a sense of destiny and purpose flooded over
me as it was announced from the stage that there
was one CD left. all at once i knew that this was
what i had been training for ever since i was a
tiny girl: i was meant to catch that CD! i
watched in slow motion as this magic disk
spiraled through the smokey air, seemingly
dipping and turning to avoid the sweaty, anxious
palms that clamored for it. it had to be mine!
and though i was in the way back of the crowd,
there was never a faltering moment. cooly,
confidently, i reached out my arm and grasped the
CD as calmly and purposfully as though i were
plucking a golden apple of the tree of life. this
is where it all began... so instead of posturing
about who was there first, why not unite and
conspire to bring urchin out to the west coast?
we can seduce them with tales of our ocean and
redwoods, and with promises of fine food and
drink......and people who know how to go fucking
crazy at concerts. (i must say east coasters need
to just fucking LET LOOSE once in a while. DANCE
DAMMIT!) So until urchin makes us all happy by
coming to california, we santa cruzians will have
to be content with our new york pilgrimages
(thats dedication, no?) so, yeah... that's it.
hallelujuh. steven tyler forever, see ya at the
baggot! kat
.............. 4/25/00 - SANTA CRUZ
REBUTLE!!
- o.k.,
so this is team santa cruz feeling the need to
tell it like it is. one of us got hit in the head
(o.k. maybe not exactly) with an urchin c.d. that
got tossed out into the audience when you guys
opened at a ween show. and that, my friend, way
preceeded new year's 99! try late '98! so we've
been rockin the urchin scene for well over a year
longer than those posers in berkeley. what up?
dice rules= gamble a lot, yell a lot, listen to
urchin.
.............. 4/24/00 - BERKELEY
TAKES A STAB
- I
know you're all stoked about your Santa Cruz
conversion but I just want to say that Berkeley
has been converted for far longer. A friend was
at your New Years 1999 show and caught a CD and
since then it has spread like wildfire through
the Berkeley campus. The shit's on at nearly
every party I go to. Thet women dig the
"alien ladies." They guys all roar.
Santa Cruz...what up?
-Oh, my God, Berkeley Rob
.............. 4/13/00 - SANTA CRUZ
IS CONVERTED!!!
- yo,
my housemates and i may be your biggest fans out
on the west coast. we listen to you guys
religiously, and have entire game nights which
revolve around listening to urchin while we play
dice. i own a crazy cool funked out restaurant
here in beautiful santa cruz, and i thought
perhaps we were the only jukebox to have a sounds
of urchin cd, until i visited nyc for the first
time on new years eve and got a drink at the
baggot while waiting for wesley willis to arrive
at cbgb's. i had met up with a friend from santa
cruz, we pulled out our rhinestone dice, and
nostalgically wished we could hear urchin playing
as we began our game of papa. i sauntered over to
the jukebox, only to discover....!!!! well the
point is, you guys need to come play in santa
cruz. we're ready for ya!! you've got a place to
stay, you can eat at the saturn, and we promise
you will have a blast. i heard it snowed there
last weekend. it's 80 here, so when are you
coming??
tristan@saturncafe.com
11/29/99
ENGLAND IS CONVERTED!!!
- Hello
there, Tom Wilks in Beligium sent me a CD and a
biog of Urchin which I reckon is shit hot and
will say so in my 'zine, but I am hoping to do a
bigger feature on them too if I could get a few
questions answered. I'd be dead chuffed if Urchin
could tell me a few things:
Why Urchin?
Urchin in 3 words?
What would the members of Urchin be if they
weren't members of Urchin?
Urchin aged 64?
What makes Urchin smile?
What are Urchin's vices?
What is Urchin's message to the world?
Peace, love, pumpkin pie,
Xana :-)
The IndiePendent Fanzine
11/17/99
FINLAND IS CONVERTED!!!
- This
excerpt is from the Max Payne Website
(http://www.maxpayne.com/keski-news.html) in
Finland, go figure???:
...on a much lighter note, yet none the less
cool, we got to visit a subway control room
somewhere in Manhattan. We were taking shots of
the passing trains, when someone from the
personnel came to ask if we wanted to have a look
inside the place. They mistook us for German
trainspotters, and we were not the ones to set
them straight. Eagerly we grabbed the chance and
got a full tour, lots of extremely cool photos.
It was our last night in New York City, and to
celebrate, Andrea and her friends took us to see
'The Sound of Urchin', a band some of their
friends played in. The gig simply ruled! We
partied the night away. Saturday night fever!...
10/8/99
Iowa City is converted to URCHIN
- I
was at my friend's house last weekend havin some
beer and he played the Sound of Urchin CD. It was
about then that my jaw dropped and I was
compelled to ask him just what it was we were
listening to. He then told me and I asked
"Where did you get it?" He said
"You can't buy it here in Iowa City. Try
e-mailing them and see what they say." Well,
this is my e-mail. Between my DJ buddy Marty and
our pal in Des Moines, we're gonna turn Iowa City
on to the Sound of Urchin. God knows we could use
more good bands, diversified bands, rather than
the brand of shitty hippy jam bands going around
town now. It makes me want to hold my breath
until my head exands like a balloon and I float
into the sun. Enough of my rambling. I hope to
see SOU rolling through town with Ween next time
they come around.
"The Tsunami Starter"
9/1 Foundry
Music Reviews Space Station on the 4,5
& 6
- The
one thing you pray for when reviewing a group or
songs is familiarity, so that hopefully you can
relate the sound to readers. Much to their
credit, "Space Station on the 4,5 &
6" by The Sound of URCHIN, a hip-hop band
out of NYC, avoids that simplistic categorization
with this mix of rap, funk, superior production,
and excellent musicianship. Preceeding the song
is an intorduction that could be straight out of
a Bogart film. Tomato11 is the voice behind the
well-crafted, catchy rhymes that make references
to life in New York, Aerosmith, and candle stores
(go figure)... This is boom box ready music that
will have you singing (or rapping) along in no
time. As cliche as this sounds, Sound of URCHIN,
who recently went on tour with Ween, creates
feel-good music; you pop it in, and your head
starts bopping back and forth, and all you want
is to hear more.
6/24 NEW
URCHIN FAN COMMENTS VIA STEVEN E-MAIL
"A bunch of us have
seen you guys and really enjoyed the shows. My
one friend partied a little to hard during one of
your shows and was actually thrown out of the
place because "spacestation 4,5,and 6"
made him throw up. In his words "the beat
was too intense". The version you guys
played of that at the TROC during the Ween opener
cannot be beat."
"I saw you guys open up
for ween at the 9:30 club in DC. Between you and
ween I've never seen a more kick ass show. Keep
up the good work!"
"I have my whole crew
here in Scranton hooked on you guys (we can't go
crusing with out someone at some point shouting
'oh my god, broccoli rabe'."
"You guys rock."
5/17 URCHIN
CD review in Cover Magazine by Bernard Davis
Brooklyn-based
singer/rapper/drummer Tomato11 and
producer/guitarist Barbie Smooth present a strong
first effort with the independent release of this
self-titled, ultra-smooth six-song EP. The tunes
are catchy, funky and fun in the same vein as
G-Love and Special Sauce, with playful, flowing
rhymes reminiscent of old school 80's rap.
On "Space Station on the 4,5 & 6",
"Bat's Taxi" and "Quiz Show",
Tomato11 waxes poetic on Publisher's Clearing
House, ice skating, time travel, Phil Collins,
Aerosmith, Florida and fajitas. On "At the
Barbeque", Tomato and Barbie eat some
"trick Doritos" and take a trip to
outer space bearing McDonald burgers for the
beautiful alien ladies they encounter.
On their sing-along anthem, "Green Green
Gold", Tomato11 tells the story of how he
turned into a lettuce leaf, swam amongst a salad
and got busy with a basil leaf. The song
culminates in the chant "Oh! My God!
Broccoli Rage!" For those interested, the
stevenrecs.com homepage provides links to web
sites where the entire cd is posted for
listening. True to their DIY spirit, the best way
to get a copy of the disc is to catch The Sound
of URCHIN playing around town because, chances
are, they'll give you a copy to take home.
Menant gets
rocked!!!!" - May 4, 1999
The Sound of Urchin - The
Baggott Inn, NYC. April 24th
I work with phon-x on original jams, he took me
to the show at the Baggot in 0n 4/24. I WAS
AMAZED. Tomato11 is a star, plain and simple. The
music is great and very inspiring. Green Green
Gold is on my voicemail message.
The live show blows away the cd. URCHIN has MUCH
more energy live, no question. I wish URCHIN
would re-release the debut cd as a live
performance. SO MUCH ENERGY!!!
Tomato11 was right -- urchin made me believe in
music again.
"JB3
gets rocked!!!!" - April 27, 1999
The Sound of Urchin - The
Baggott Inn, NYC. April 24th
I was there dressed as a penguin. Where were
you?!? If you missed this one.. you really missed
out. The finely tuned, well lubed, hard driving
Urchin machine hammered out a ninety minute
nonstop set. For the last half hour, every
audience member was dancing and bopping around.
No-one can resist dancing to The Sound of Urchin.
I was anxiously awaiting the ever-growing popular
chant during "Green Green Gold", when I
heard the girls behind me scream "OH MY
GAWD, THEY ROCKED THE PANTS OFF MR. RICHARD
RICKLES!!!" Sure enough and yes they did...
in the midst of his dance-crazed tambourine
smashing session... Mr. Rickles' pants no longer
could stand the Urchin pressure. Even the
universal Duct-Tape cure-all failed to assist
poor Mr. Rickles in his dilemma. The undaunted
Sound of Urchin kept playing... no show stoppers
here!
John Brown III
"A
word to the urchin boys from a fan" - April 8, 1999
hello! I hope a member of
the group receives these e-mails but it's cool if
not. I just wanted to say that you (the sound of
urchin) are great, I'm a big fan, and what not,
but a word of wisdom (I think). You have the
talent in your music to take you anywhere you
want to go, but there are going to be people that
pop up along the way that want to turn you into
their cash machine, I know you know this already,
and I don't know what you as a group have planned
for the future of your music, but there are
better things to do with your tunes then sell out
with them. money and success will come (and
probably already have) but, anyway MTV? please
don't- major labels? maybe, but these are things
you don't need if your tunes are good enough,
which I want to say they are. I can't get your
album out of my player. the fans like me are
there now, and are only going to get bigger and
stronger with the more you spread your message
across this land. keep up with what your doing
now, and no matter how good an offer sounds,
think long and hard about what your fans will
think, and you'll do the right thing. can't wait
for some new stuff, and I am going to catch the
show whenever I can, thanks for listening to my
ramblings like the moat, and the moat and the
castle and the moat.........
What John Brown
The Third said after SXSW!! - April
7, 1999
These guys play like
monsters... Peter Jenner from Sincere Management
called The Sound of Urchin "a hard-driving,
finely tuned, perfectly timed machine". High
energy hip-hop mixed with R&B and a spice of
Rock 'n Roll topped with reggae only starts
describing the fun at an Urchin show. A huge NYC
thank you to the music lovers from Mammoth
Records and Capital Records for checking out the
Urchin SxSW show. Be sure to see The Sound of
Urchin play at NYC's Baggot Inn on April 24th.
Get there early and see our President prance
around in his penguin suit.
Review of
URCHIN at SXSW from Denver Westword, March 25 1999
...My approach, by contrast
was to skip around in order to get a sense of
SXSW's overall flavor--and a lot of it didn't
taste good. Bob Popular, a club with several
separate music rooms, was the headquarters of
genre tokenism: The majority of the festival's
DJs were trotted in and out on one night, with
about half of the electro acts that broke through
SXSW's all-guitars-all-the-time dogma on another.
Even worse was the hip-hop showcase, during which
a breakdancing crew and a couple of graffiti
artists were treated like bizarre novelties (Note
to SXSW: Krush Groove and Beat Street are not new
movies.) And then there was the decision to kick
off the proceedings with New York's The Sound of
URCHIN, a rap parody populated by boorish
Caucasians. I doubt that the SXSW schedulers were
trying to insult an entire art form--the ones
I've met are quite sincere--but that's what wound
up happening. Nevertheless, The Sound of URCHIN
made an impression, which is more than I can say
about far too many acts. The Causey Way,
Motorpsycho, Mover, Chevelle, My Friend Steve, 44
Long, Bluebird, Troy Young Campbell, Grace Braun,
Appleseed Cast, Supafuzz, Sons of Hercules, Hai
Karate, Cooper, Orbit, Unida, The Wontons, Ryan
Shupe and the Rubber Band, Leaderhouse: I could
sketch out why none of them rose above mediocrity
in my eyes, but it would be a waste of newsprint.
What WEEN
fans (and WEEN) have to say - January 1999
(from e-mails &
alt.music.ween newsgroup)
(and featuring the neverending "Sound of
URCHIN/WEEN Newsgroup Saga")
MESSAGE FROM DEAN WEEN FROM www.ween.com:
Happy New Year peoples, and thanks to all of you
who came out to the 3 holiday concerts. Despite
three of us having the flu we still managed to
have a great time playing for your asses. I hope
y'all got to see the Sound of Urchin, our wicked
support band...they pretty much kicked ass all 3
nights. visit their website at
www.stevenrecs.com...
Superb, Superb,
Superb,Superb,Superb,Superb
Hey, I caught the New Years Eve show. I drove
there from Boston being a big Ween fan. All I can
say about The Sound of Urchin is
Superb,Superb,Superb. I was totally blown away.
How long have you been together? I was lucky
enough to get one of the free CDs and I haven't
stopped listening to it since. Guess what.
Everyone's a time traveler. Correct me if I'm
wrong. From what I can gather Tomato 11 is the
drummer writer singer and genius of the band and
Barbie Smooth is the keyboardist, producer. I see
they are the only two on the CD, which leads me
to believe that the formation of the rest of the
band is relatively recent. I'll tell you
something, you got the right formula together.
While the songs on the CD are spectacular and you
can feel the talent oozing from Tomato, the songs
just flat out ROCK live. The good Reverend Be ILL
was fantastic and I even love the style of Mr.
Richard Rickles. I forget the bassists name, if
you could fill me in that would be cool, but he
was right on also. Is there any way to get a copy
of these songs live? I'm having a hard time
explaining to my friends how much the songs rock
live. I wish I was a big record producer or
something, because someone is gonna get rich off
you guys. Is that CD the only thing available
right now? I was tempted to travel to Philly and
DC to catch the other 2 shows, but I just didn't
have the cash. What is up for you guys after the
Ween shows? I hope you'll be doing some more
touring. I'll keep up through the web site.
Oh Shit! Everyone's a movie
your show rocked man! i
didn't manage to grab one of those free cd's you
were throwing out, but i did see the sound guy in
the back almost get hit when that guy with the
tambourine (what's his name?) tossed one like a
chinese star and almost beheaded him! i wanna get
one of your cd's.. thanks much! -a new fan
The opening band, Sound of
Urchin, definetely deserves mention and praise as
well. I've never seen a ween-opener get the crowd
going as much as they have: even more so than
Chocolate Dream (was that their name) who opened
last year at tramps. I'm guessing it's because
they're also New Hopers and so they know what's
going on. They threw noisemakers, CDs and even
silly string (which dean ended up wearing) to the
crowd.
I didn't like the opening
band, what was it, "sounds of urchin"
or something? I thought they kind of sucked...
...During the WEEN set, one of the members of the
opening band (the dancer) got invited onto the
stage for "take me away," after that
those fucking guys kept coming onto the stage
while Ween was playing, that didn't seem very
nice. Well, all and
all, it was a great show, I kind of dug it.
The WEEN encore was
L.M.L.Y.P. ( easily a half hours worth ) with The
Reverend Be ILL from the The Sound of Urchin. The
Sound of Urchin were pretty damn good too. I
think they'll definitely be heard from in the
future.
Anyhow, The sounds of Urchin
weren't that bad, if you're going to tommorow's
show I'd actually recommend checking them
out...You gotta like a band who has a singing
drummer...I'm not so sure about thier tamborine
player though...still, he wasn't a bad dancer.
So, the opening band, Sound
of Virtue, were incredible. They were all dressed
in shiny disco suits except the guitarist who was
wearing a red bathrobe. They came out and were
saying really goofy shit like "Hey, we're
from New York. Do you guys like Friends? How
about Titanic?" They proceded to rock for
about a half hour and handed out free CD's which
I tried to grab without any luck. Definitely the
best opening band they've had since Doo Rag!...
...WEEN did 1999 with the dancer from the opening
band onstage with them (he reminded me of Fez
from That 70s Show all discoed out and with the
slick moves. After that, he jumped into the
audience and danced with these chicks for a
while.
Tell Rickles to get a
friggin' haircut. You guys rocked, and I was into
it because you guys are into Friends and Titanic.
Brazillians are the shit. If that's any
consolation.
These guys were awesome.
They deserve alot of credit. They had all us Ween
fans pretty hyped up. Tomato, Let your head
shine! I got the free CD, everyone should do
themselves a favor and get it. Richard Rickles
got style. Shake that tambourine boy!
Yeah, Richard Rickles is the
man! I was really pissed off that the other Ween
fans didn't get into it at the Philly show- but I
had a great time none-the-less. And who was that
hot chick with the video camera? I"m sorry
if its somebody's girlfriend or sister, but I
thought she was quite a looker!
(ed. note: that's my
girlfriend, punk... TOMATO11)
Speaking of hippies- did
anyone else notice that Reverend B. Ill's (from
Sound of Urchin- whom I thought were damn
entertaining), his guitar had a sticker on it
that said "Phuck Phish". I thought that
was cool.
Long live Richard Rickles!
Friends & Titanic, Baby...
i saw you open for new wen
on new years eve and i thought you guys were
actually pretty good.
who was that bearded guitar
man? enjoyed him. who was the opener? i enjoyed
them a lil', they rememinded me of my band, only
we're better.
I was impressed with the
openning band too, singing drummers, how do they
do that shit, sing and play drums??????? I can
hardly even sing backup when I'm playing bass.
hey what's up. i must say,
going to a Ween show, i was there just to see
Ween, and opening acts can really suck. but, you
guys kicked ass, and if you don't mind a little
comparison you reminded me of my band, (not that
we play out, we are cellar dwellers ie: we only
play in my cellar) but nonetheless, since i like
my band, ya know i think yous rocked, or funked i
should say! man, you rip up playing the drums and
singing, i don't know how you do it. and that mix
up of that "so groovy now that ppl are
finally getting together" was ass kicking!
all in all, i really enjoyed you guys, i saw yous
in Philly
I was in DC over the weekend
and caught the show - you rocked. Thanks for
making a great night even better.
Hey boys....gimme some free
shit.......saw ya open for Ween in Philly and
DC......wanted to grab a CD then from y'all but I
was buyin' a beer (both times).... a chick's
gotta have priorities, ya know?? I can't remember
the last time I actually enjoyed an opening
band.....hmmm, maybe at some metal show in the
early 80s?? Anyways, its been ages, I appreciate
ya immensely.
i saw all three shows, and
all of your sets were great. new year's was for
sure the best, in my opinion (ironic too, because
it was ween's worst). anyhow, it was fun. i can't
get spacestation at the 4,5, and 6 out of my
head. cool. thanks. good luck at future shows and
all that, hopefully i'll get to catch you again.
I saw you guys at the Ween
show in Philly. I have one word to say. OH MY
GOD! You were INCREDIBLE! I cant believe it. I
was never...and i mean NEVER that impressed with
an opening band before in my life. I must say,
GREAT set. I loved the tamborine guy too! hahah.
killer show.
You guys kicked ass in
philly, it was the perfect way to end my visit
back home, I liked how you told everyone to jump
because you "never played in front of this
many people", anyway good luck in the
future.
I know that Revernd B. ILL
plays with Ween every now and again. He has also
played with the Jimmy Wilson group both times I
saw them. He played with the moistboyz on a video
I have also. I think that he's a good friend of
Mickeys. His name is Bill Fowler, and I really
loved his red suit jacket.
Thanks for making New Years
so great! I enjoyed your set enormously. I had
seen Phish the two previous nights, but of course
chose to see Ween on New Years. As I walked in
and saw "Phuck Phish" on the Rev's
guitar, it felt like a personal welcome to me.
Please let me know if you ever come up to Canada
(around Toronto) and I'll be there.
Oh my god....broccoli raw?
as a ween fan, i wanted to
say the sound of urchin booted some ass in philly
on new year's day. loved it.
I saw you guys at the Philly
show and was emmensly pleased with your
performance. Not only were you incredibly cool
yoursefves, but you worked us all up for WEEN. I
hope that one day you get crowds like that for
your own shows so you won't need to ask us all to
jump.
whats up fellows? man u all
kick some ass. we saw u n dc on the 2nd. i saw
ween b4 and they had a shitty ass band open 4
them(i wont mention any names). i was so glad 2
hear something new and fresh.i wouldnt mind
seeing urchin again.
THE
WEEN NEWSGROUP SAGA
the idiot:
but i don't think the opening act could have been
any worse. it was a bunch of fags dressed up in
disco suits. i think ween put them as the opening
act to make a joke...
someone else:
no way, dude--those guys were fun. they were
good, too. ween was chilling up on the balcony to
the left of the stage and they seemed to be
enjoying it plenty. and the reverend b ill is an
old buddy of theirs, or at least that's the
impression i get. you should have seen them play
on new year's. they rocked so hard. i bet you've
never even been to brazil...
the idiot:
i think the sound of urchin is a horrible band.
they should be dragged out in to the street and
shot.
someone else else:
I thought they were a lot of fun. Singing
drummers rule. That shit is hard to do!!!...
the idiot:
really??? i couldn't stand them. i thought they
had talent, i just did't dig
their style of music. personally, i thought they
sounded like everyother
sellout band. you know???
someone else else else:
Well then, personally could you tell us what
other sellout
bands they sounded like? I thought they were
pretty entertaining, and the Reverend was a
rockin' guitarist. I hardly agree that they
sounded like a "sellout" band (whatever
that may mean in the first place).
someone else else else:
"Sellout" band? They were giving their
CD away FREE. What do you mean by
"sellout"? I'm assuming it's the
standard definition kids use: "Band that I
don't like". As if using the word
"sellout" PROVES they suck. It's the
inane proposition that the bands the kid actually
likes don't WANT money. What idiocy.
a different but nicer
idiot: i, too thought the
opening act sucked this year. i enjoyed last
year's royal finger bowl much more. this year,
urchin really got on my nerves. it was too poppy.
too much snare, and they sounded too much like
about a million other bands that i used to have
to endure while listening to popular radio. i'm
glad that some folks get off on that urchin crap,
but in my opinion, i think they suck, and i
really loath that type of sound. they are too
un-interesting, and it sounds just like noise to
me. i'm sorry if i offended anyone, but i am just
expressing my opinion. again, i must say that i
am glad that some folks enjoyed urchin.
someone else else else
else else: Aww come on, they
weren't that bad.
L'Entrepot (web zine
review from Belgium by Tom Wilms) - January 1999
- "The
sound of Urchin" is the new project around
Tomato11 (Chris Harfenist) who plays the drums
and does the storytelling. He have played in
divers bands and made already four solo albums on
which he plays all of the instruments and vocals.
The other members are Cash/Money/love (Chris
Huetz) on bass who have recorded with Ween, The
reverend B.ILL (Bill Fowler) who was a member of
Ween and Barbie Smooth (Mike Huetz) a video
editor have worked with The Beastie Boys and Wu
Tang Clan. "The sound of URCHIN" brings
fresh sounding Hip-Hop. The six songs are piece
by piece easy listening songs with a high sing
along level. The storytelling lyrics works out
very well and give it a bit an De La Soul
feeling. In a song as "Quiz show spy"
you hear that the guys have listen to funk, soul
and jazz music. "At the barbeque" is my
favorite story, real funny song. And that is what
I think is the intention is of "The sound of
URCHIN", entertain people. That's what this
CD is al about entertainment, and good
entertainment.
Splendid
E-Zine (web zine review by George Zahora)
- December 1998
- Imagine
Bongload-era Beck dressed up, fronting a killer
band and driven along by, of all things, a
narrator between album tracks. The picture you'll
come up with is probably pretty horrifying, but
don't panic -- URCHIN is far, far better than
that godawful description implies. Take the
low-key storytelling of rapper/drummer Tomato11,
a man who sounds like he'd be equally at home
working with sampled breakbeats or a live jazz
combo. Add the ultra-slick production-stylee of
Barbie Smooth, who keeps everything pleasantly
low-key and sophisticated. And don't forget the
most unique and mind-blowing ingredient -- the
between-track narration of a guy called Black
Sebabbitt, whose old-time-radio-styled voiceovers
sound like a cross between Jon Lovitz and Walter
Winchell. Until you hear Sebabbitt talk to his
silent companion Red, you can't really understand
the effect he has on the music, driving
everything into an alternate reality of
sophisticated pipe-smoking hip-hop acid-jazz
consciousness. The songs hammer home the surreal
mood -- "Green Green Gold" travels
rapidly from mundane conversation to
hallucinatory kafka-esque vegetable
transformation, while the stellar (giggle)
"Space Station on the 4 5 & 6"
weaves a complex tale involving Aerosmith and
time travel, among other things...certainly a
nice change from tales of twenty-something angst.
If you buy only one more CD this year, you can't
go wrong by making it The Sound of URCHIN.
Launch Magazine (intl.
cd-rom entertainment magazine) - October 1998
- The
Back Room loves The Sound of URCHIN from
Brooklyn, New York. This new collaboration of
members from the Steven family, Tomato11 and
Barbie Smooth, is an infectious heavy-duty
hip-hop swing that has produced some of the
coolest sounds for the summer of 1998. Their
debut album is being passed through the
underground and is being played all the way from
New York's East Village to the Los Angeles surf
and swing communities. Tomato's vocal styles
along with Barbie's master production have made
for a winning combination and we expect to hear
more about them in the months to come.
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