Having begun as something of a randomly assembled, overtly casual supergroup, World's Greatest Dad has gradually transformed into something really, really cool. Having just won the Advocate's Grand Band Slam award for Folk (which hardly describes them), WGD put on one of the best shows at the Band Slam event. This was even more impressive considering that they were the first band to take the stage in the upstairs room at Chicopee's Maximum Capacity, where they hastily soundchecked their seven-piece band and kicked right into it.
At its root a modern-ish indie rock band with shades of The Strokes, Franz Ferdinand or TV on the Radio, the group expands its originality with whiskey-smooth oddball vocals from Gabe Sullivan, flute and Omnichord embellishments by Amanda Freeman and Dani O'Brien respectively, and insanely skilled, Paganini-fired violin solos from the dapper, one-gloved Eric Lee. Clarinet/sax player Steve Yarbo could not make the gig that night. The rhythm section of bassist Ryan Crowley, guitarist Luke Degnan and drummer Hodges is tight, dynamics-sensitive and covers a breadth of multi-ethnic patterns and time signatures, and never runs over the vocals or soloists, a rare pleasure to hear (especially from such a large band).
All the bells and whistles contribute a lot to this band's original sound, but it's Sullivan's vocals that cement its personality. His blend of deep, Jim Morrison-esque poetry with absurdist lyrical comic relief in the vein of Ween or Frank Zappa tends to jerk audience reactions through a whole range of emotional responses. Sometimes he's singing something hilarious with a totally straight face, sometimes he's sporting a foolish grin as he spews something that actually sounds quite meaningful, and the result is delightfully confusing—it makes you wonder if you should be taking notes or putting lipstick all over your ass and shaking it around like a drag queen on ecstasy.
World's Greatest Dad plans to release a CD by year's end, recorded at Verdant Studio in Athens, Vt. by Matt Jugenhiemer and mastered by Slaughterhouse Studios' Mark Miller.
