FUZZY
Pop group, Fuzzy’s bassist, Winston Braman,realized the other day what really irks him about the press and the pop music scene in general these days.”
Some so-called pop critics can be downright nasty and backstabbing and petty,”he said during a recent interview. “I mean the other day we were in Chicago, and I just happened to read an article a guy who had interviewed us earlier wrote. I mean this guy was cool and nice to us and said a lot of cool things about our music whenever he interviewed us. Then ,when I get to Chicago and read the preview of our show in Chicago,he called our music ,’disposable’and wrote all these really nasty things about us.” Braman took his frustration out later that evening on-stage in front of a sold out house. “I kind if vented on-stage,”he said,”I was really angry. I couldn’t help it. There’s so much negativity with the pop press right now. There’s all these losers and groupies who think they know what’s best. I just wanted to throttle the guy.”
Fuzzy is not another one of those, alternapop/alternarock acts with three chords,an MTV video and lyrics which amount to nothing more than,’Life sucks.’ The quartet, Dave Ryan(drums),Chris Toppin(vocals,guitar), Hilken Mancini(vocals,guitars) and Braman, have recorded a strong debut album”Electric Juices”.
Electric Juices Album
The tracks on “Electric Juices” are filled with intelligent power-pop songs. The album even has an excellent ode to The Beach Boys,a cover of Brian Wilson’s 1965 hit,”Girl Don’t Tell Me”. However,what’s truly refreshing about “Electric Juices” is the lack of the negative lyrics and defeatist attitudes that permeate far too many of today’s alternarock/alternapop acts dominating FM radio and MTV. That’s why,according to Braman,many modern rock radio programmers and pop music journalists don’t take Fuzzy’s music seriously. “It’s weird”,he said,”I hope good songwriting never goes out of style.
People seem more interested in a sense of drama in their music.
We’re trying to get it all together and here you have these people at radio,and these pop music journalists across the country,telling us we’re not serious because we don’t have all this negativity surrounding our music and lyrics. I guess because we don’t pay attention to all of that,we’ve been on the road for so long now,that we don’t pay attention to all the negative music that’s out there. I mean,maybe it’s the wave of the future.” Braman’s outlook is not unique.
There’s a movement within the pop music genre currently which is a response to all the angst-ridden, dark sounds being emitted by some of the most popular groups at the top of today’s charts. Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins, Alanis Morissette, Rage Against The Machine and Stone Temple Pilots all use the majority of their songs to project lyrics with extremely negative and at times repulsive themes. Many of these acts have become multi-millionaires solely from the monetary support of their teenage fans who buy the related products and concert tickets. Since the current trend is to have a gloom and doom attitude about one’s music, most major label acts which are oriented towards a youth market demographic, have been trying to cash in. Yet,while this scenario continues to occur,there are a handful of acts,who are rejecting their peers negative attitudes concerning their songwriting craft and are focusing on well written,melodic pop music. Which once was the staple of the pop and rock marketplace throughout the ’50’s and 60’s.
That’s where Fuzzy fits in and why they’re an important act in the grand scheme of things. “We’re very satisfied with the record,”Braman said. “We’re hoping more that since we’re on a major label TAG Recordings/Atlantic,that more people will enjoy it. The most fun we have and the best part of this is the creating of the music in the initial stages. It is the most fulfilling part of being in the band.”