Greek Buck's New LP
by Denise Benson
MESSIN' WITH GREEK BUCK is true to Don Pyle and Andrew Zealley's glam and punk rock roots, as well as to their mutual appreciation for musical risk taking. Alternately cheeky in its noisy abandon and beautiful in its melancholy, the album is somewhat carnival-esque -- highlighting the unpredictable nature of its makers.
With titles such as "Pontiac Teddy Stud" and "Sound Where There Has Been Silence," as well as "cover" versions of the Tinderstick's "Bearsuit" and John and Yoko's concept piece "Two Minutes Silence," the album is both saucy and substantial.
Entirely recorded at Pyle's home studio, it also features contributions from a number of guest musicians: King Cobb Steelie's Kevin Lynn, Kevan Byrne and Al Okada as well as Fifth Column vocalist and playwright Carolyn Azar, and Montréal-based chanteur Hugh Ball.
"All the people we played with have really similar approaches to music and how they listen to it," states Pyle. "They're all really open to a lot of different types of experiences."
"We approached these people because we were looking for a particular thing," expands Zealley. "Like, for "Your Butt Is Love" we wanted a really, really good bottom end bass that would just shake the butt off of everybody who was listening to it. Kevin Lynn was such a natural for it -- he's such a slinky player."
Copies of Messin' With Greek Buck can now be found across the continent, courtesy of F.A.B. Distribution in Canada and Carrot Top, K, Revolver and Surefire distribution companies in the U.S. Greek Buck can be contacted at brlypnk@istar.ca.