If you haven't heard of, or not familiar with the Asylum Street Spankers, do so now. TASS is one of the greatest modern blues/bluegrass/country/jazzy groups ever. TASS has a long history, too long for this entry, with a huge list of releases; all of which are worth getting, and more than likely will end up being reviewed here at sometime in the future. If you are looking to see them live, act fast, they are currently on their farewell tour!
Spanker Madness was my first introduction to the band. I saw this in the used section of a now local defunct book/cd store, and picked it up due to the Reefer Madness reference, and my love of all things weed related; it did not disappoint. 13 great tracks with all things weed/beer related, as well as some tongue-in-cheek stances on the socialization of usage. I couldn't even start to list, but I suppose I will when I tag this, all the genres that are played on this album. You could start with blues, head on over to jazz, bring it back with some good old bluegrass inspired sing-alongs then throw in some really spot on Tom Waits style tunage.
All these songs are catchy, yet intricate and have a great style of vocals; both male/female. Multiple musicians that make up TASS play their part to the T, and you can tell that inventiveness meets talent on a grand scale. I'm not going to say what you should listen to... well scratch that I will... listen to these guys! If you don't like any of the genres that are played by TASS, then you'll love this album based on content alone. Check out their website, buy the album, download the album or go see them live. And when you do visit their website, you can see their great discography, with music, clothes and videos.
Official score: 4.5/5
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