JENSEN Communications Big Head Todd and the Monsters will be
lurking into a theater near you.
By Alex Palmer
Daily Bruin Contributor
[email protected]
Yeah, they’ve got a funny name, but Big Head Todd and the
Monsters are as straight-forward as rock ‘n’ roll
gets.
The time-tested basics of skillful guitar playing, bluesy
vocals, and earnest lyrics are what the band prides itself on and
all these elements can be found on their new album,
“Riviera.” The three-man band will be playing material
off “Riviera” as well as plenty of its earlier stuff at
West Hollywood’s Roxy Theatre tomorrow and Sunday night.
In many ways, “Riviera” is a return to form for the
band, who hit big in 1993 with the laid back, blues-inflected
“Sister Sweetly,” which went platinum and spawned three
Top 5 Rock singles.
Big Head Todd followed up this success with 1994’s
“Strategem” and 1997’s “Beautiful
World.” The two albums had a more pop-oriented sound than
“Sweetly,” but both failed to find the same success as
that album and left many fans worrying that the band had moved too
far from their rock and roll roots.
Now, five years since their last studio album, the trio has
returned with a record that is straight-up rock and roll, without
the bells and whistles.
“Our last couple albums had more of a variety, more
romantic songs,” said Rob Squires, the band’s bassist.
“”˜Riviera’ is much more of a tight rock record
all the way through.”
Besides a return to their earlier musical style,
“Riviera” marks the band’s return to Big Records,
their own independent label on which their first two albums,
1989’s “Another Mayberry” and 1991’s
“Midnight Radio” were released.
After Giant Records, the major label that released “Sister
Sweetly,” “Strategem,” and “Beautiful
World,” collapsed in 2001, the band struck a deal with Warner
Brothers that allows them to continue enjoying major label
distribution while releasing “Riviera” under their own
independent label.
This decision fits the character of Big Head Todd, a band that
has found consistent success by chiseling out a devoted fan base,
rather than relying on hit singles to sell records.
“We’re not a band that’s gonna go out
following whatever the popular trend is. Rock is always going to be
what we do. I don’t think you’re going to see us
putting out a hip hop album anytime soon,” Squires said.
Sometimes categorized as a “jam band,” Big Head Todd
has gathered a substantial following the old-fashioned way:
touring. The band has performed live more than 2,500 times and been
featured on high-profile tours with Phish, Dave Matthews Band, and
HORDE.
Saturday and Sunday’s shows at the Roxy will be a chance
for the uninitiated to experience Big Head Todd’s style as a
live band, a sort of cross between a low key jazz set and a
rollicking bar band show.
The new album has them back in the blues-rock saddle and back on
their own independent label, touring nonstop as usual.
But despite this return to the old, Big Head Todd and the
Monsters are simultaneously refreshed and ready to begin a new
chapter in their already substantial history.