A friend sent me a message after seeing The Blancos on Wednesday night. All she said was “Silliest/worst band ever.” That’s enough of an endorsement for me and so, after seeing that the band was playing Handlebar the next night, I was there. I have to say I agree with her assessment, although I did actually sort of enjoy these guys in all their horribleness. And I’ve got to say they’ve got a unique sound. They’ve certainly got the market cornered in … whatever it is they do. The best way to describe it is being somewhat like the singer from Kings Of Leon if he dropped the band and teamed up with a DJ.
The real magic of a Blancos set comes in the stage banter though. Here are just a few samples of the words of wisdom offered up by the duo during their set: “How many people up in here like to smoke weed?” “This song’s called ‘Out of my Mind’ … ’cause we out of our minds!” “I’ve got a day and a half left here. I’m gonna have me a good time. Can I have an amen?” “We have an EP out on Soundcloud … smoke weed to it, fuck your girl to it, whatever.” And of course, “Bitch, I’m in Canada!” There was also a song about turning 21, “getting drunk and starting fights” and the occasional wanky guitar solo peppered into their set. They ended things off with a plug for their show the following night: “Tomorrow we’ll be at the Bovine Sex Club. I don’t know if they have sex there but it’s in the name.” After some guy in the crowd shouted out that they have Jäger on tap there, the singer responded, “That’s baller.”
This has got to be satire, right? These dudes can’t possibly be serious, can they? Except I think they are and really, that’s what makes it great. These guys are like the Rob Ford of music – utterly terrible, yet somehow thinking they’re awesome. So yes, silliest/worst band ever, but still somehow compelling to watch.