Instead of going all out to provoke with an offbeat wall of sound, Hsiao Ying (小應) and his cronies have cooked up a feast of comical tunes that are much tighter and more fluid than their previous material. The black humor and devil-may-care chic is still there, but it's been packaged in a much more listener-friendly way.
While the band has become more flexible in its delivery, it's beyond-labeling musical outlook stays firmly intact. In true Clippers fashion all of the album's 12 tunes are as alike as chalk and cheese.
It begins its latest odyssey with, Go to See the Flowers with You (和妳去賞花), a tinny keyboard driven tune recorded to sound like an old scratched record that lulls the listener in before exploding with a crescendo of black metal and snarling vocals. Ska takes center stage on track two, when the band parody food on The Last Thing I Ate (最後一個我吃了) and the band go all out to confuse and amuse on Shake Beer, a driving blues riff driven tune that contains the improbable lyric, "Shakespeare shake beer."
It might all sound odd to the uninitiated, but this is the warped and wonderful world of The Clippers: A place where anything is possible.
The Daymakers
Here Comes Happiness ...(興奮來了 ...)
Self Released Punk-Pop Influenced Ilan
Punk-pop influenced band The Daymakers, which hails from Ilan, has built up a strong following since it made its debut at a Yamaha sponsored battle of the bands under the name The Young Guns two years ago.
Fronted by Texan twins, JT and JD Long and with Canadian national Jason Copps on drums, the trio's debut EP, Here Comes Happiness ... (興奮來了 ...) is set to hit record stores in the coming week.
Opening with Sweater (毛衣), a tune on which the band waxes lyrical about a favorite article of clothing, the trio's jerky sound and cutesy and comedic lyrics make for an interesting listen from start to finish. Along the way the trio touch on romance, or lack of thereof and friendship, or, once again lack thereof. The tune with the most clout, however, is Secret Agent (間諜), a pulsating surf punk instrumental.
With musical inspiration that ranges from early Weezer and maestro Elvis Costello to Green Day and rudimentary four-chord punk-pop, The Daymakers is a band to watch out for in the coming months.
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