Sorry for the lack of posting lately… no one really cares, but I figured I’d apologise just in case. Anyway, the whole “work” thing is really cutting into my “screw around on the internet” time, so I dunno. I’ve been posting a lot over the last couple months, but that’s gonna tone down a bit.
So October’s upon us now, and while that’s all good and Halloween, it’s Band of the Month time today. And it’s one of those rare months when the Botm isn’t a band, but a single artist. And that artist is Dweezil Zappa, son of none other than the legendary Frank Zappa. The name Dweezil is kind of odd, but it’s actually the most normal of all the names of F. Zappa’s kids. Certainly you’ve heard of at least Moon Unit (the remaining two are named Ahmet Emuukha Rodan and Diva Muffin). I actually quite like it myself. But BotM is not about the name! It’s about the music! I first heard of Dweezil from the Conker Live & Reloaded Soundtrack, where he and Nile Rodgers cover the “Surf Punks” track. That was always my favourite track from Conker’s Bad Fur Day, and holy smokes do they ever make it awesomer.
Maybe a year later it hits me to actually look up some of Dweezil’s other stuff, and aside from the fact that he’s a bit obscure (even though his name’s Zappa), there was plenty to pick at. Frank Zappa was true guitar legend, and that’s something tought to live up to. Dweezil is very, very skilled with the guitar, and I’ve gotta give props to some of the songs where he just shreds, like “The Return Of the Son Of Shoogagoogagunga” and “Confessions Of A Deprived Youth.” The only issue I’ve got is his vocal work. Now, the Dweezil’s got a decent voice, it’s just that he doens’t use it quite properly all the time. That or the lyrics are poorly written and make the vocals sound bad, evidenced by how covers like “Anytime At All” (The Beatles) and “My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama” (Frank Zappa) sound excellent in all aspects.
So yeah, definitely look into Dweezil’s stuff. I can’t say you’ll be thrilled by everything you find, but I can tell you that the album Confessions in particular has a bunch of really great songs on it. If you pay attention to the guitar work more that the vocals, I’m sure you’ll be able to appreciate the bulk of what’s out there. Also, he’s got really sweet hair, just check out those killer sideburns. Let’s see… sweet hair, cool name, awesome guitarist… yeah, I totally want to be this guy.