Blips | Les Racquet and The Quick & Easy Boys

In our never-ending quest to dig up great bands whose tickets cost less than a corned beef sandwich at your local deli, we bring you our latest round of Blips here on JamBase. The idea behind Blips is to form a lasting relationship with acts we believe to have bright futures and stick with them as they develop and grow. We view Blips as a progression that begins with a mention in a Blips segment, then leads to a Blips Update, and ultimately culminates in a feature length interview. In this edition, we have some really cool new music, so take a sec, poke around the bands’ various websites and see what you think of these two under-the-radar acts…

Check out songs from this edition of Blips and previous featured acts through these handy RDIO and Spotify playlists as part of the new JamBase channels for each.

Les Racquet

Website / Facebook

You pronounce it “less racket” and the band’s motto is “Les Racquet, more music” which works just fine for this Brooklyn trio. At first glance, this is just another guitar-bass-drums indie rock band, with some nice harmonies and great songs. But the more you listen, the more you hear the wide range of influences: some off-meter jazz rhythms here, some weird Zappa prog excursions there… next thing you know, you’re mired in a long, twisted, three-man instrumental jam that seemed to come out of nowhere.

Les Racquet is Patrick Carroll on guitar/vocals, Kenny Murphy on bass/vocals and Daniel Malone on drums/vocals and very much a greater-than-its-parts band, each member bringing a load of talent and energy to the music. Besides the great music, the stellar musicianship and killer jams, Les Racquet is just plain old fun. They pull out some great covers, ranging from Zappa’s “Peaches En Regalia” to a punked out take on Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five” . When I saw them at the Mercury Lounge last month, Malone lead a one-two punch of “Tom Sawyer” and “Enter Sandman” that was one of those jokey things that also kicked some serious ass.

Here is a pro-shot video of their set-maker instrumental “Bruce Li,” but all the tracks from this Bing Lounge session are worth a listen:

Although Les Racquet is a band best enjoyed live, their new album, Whale Hail is pretty darn good as well, so check it out.

The Quick and Easy Boys

Website / Facebook

Like some mirror image of Les Racquet, The Quick & Easy Boys are a trio from Portland, OR. With a name like that, you might think they’re some country rock outfit and based on their Portland mailing address, you might expect some baroque pop type sound. Well, wrong and… wrong, although maybe not 100% wrong. These guys are a wild-eyed, visceral rock and roll band that’s best experienced loud and with a beer in your hand. But they’re more than that, once they got you a-rockin’, they’ll surprise you with extended guitar jams and unexpected covers. Also, there’s a good chance they’ll play with their shirts off. What’s not to love?

The band is Sean Badders on bass/vocals, Jimmy Russell on guitar/vocals and Michael Goetz on drums/vocals and the sound, as described by Badders, is “Jimi Hendrix meets The Police playing at a hosue party hosted by the Minutemen.” They’ve got just enough energy and talent to pull that description off. Check out their album from last year, Make It Easy, or better yet, check ‘em out live. You might see something like this medley sandwiched around a sweet take on “Willie The Pimp.”

Maybe we can get The Quick & Easy Boys and Les Racquet to tour together and double up to jam some Zappa.

Written By: Aaron Stein