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For Crazy and the Brains, Pabstolutely is no-brainer
By John Benson
It’s not so much that Crazy and the Brains bassist Brett Miller thinks Northeast Ohio is filled with hillbillies, it’s just, well ... perhaps it’s best he explains.
“In the past, we played the Royal Oaks, and that’s just a lot of crazy kids,” said Miller, calling from his Garden State home. “I guess there’s not too much musically going on in Youngstown, so when bands come through, everybody shows up. And they’re crazy, not hillbillies, but there’s that kind of crazy attitude with them. They just like to have fun, and the music we play is perfect. It makes them flip.”
It’s quickly pointed out that what’s going to make Youngstown folks flip is being called hillbillies.
“There’s just something a little bit country about them,” Miller said. “Remember, we’re from New York and New Jersey, so it’s a lot different from growing up that way. I say they’re almost in the middle [of being hillbillies] if you go farther west and south.”
Before the interview could turn any more south, the conversation quickly shifted over to the band’s latest album, “Let Me Go,” which was released in the spring. Miller points to the upbeat and rowdy title track, as well as the slower, acoustic-based tune “Mexico” as defining the band’s range of material.
Stylistically speaking, the outfit is influenced by The Stooges, The Clash and even Black Sabbath, but often gets compared to The Violent Femmes. That’s what happens when one of your members plays a xylophone.
“I don’t think we really sound like them, but that comparison just kind of comes natural,” Miller said. “It’s just you don’t hear the xylophone too often. But I’d say our music is like ’50s, ’60s, ’70s rock ’n’ roll and early punk rock. And the vocals are often performed in a hip-hop style. A lot of times I’ll hear somebody say, ‘I don’t even listen to this kind of music, but I love you guys.’”
Basically, Crazy and the Brains is just a party band looking for a party. That’s exactly what the group will find when it performs at the Pabstolutely Festival taking place Saturday at Royal Oaks. Naturally, Miller believes it will be a natural fit for the group.
He said, “Definitely. What we play is kind of party music, and that’s basically what this show is going to be — everybody hanging out and drinking beer in the street.”