Artist description Traveling Wilburys and Orson Welles in a freight elevator.

Music Style Alternative, Folk, Whacko-Pop

Musical Influences Captain Beefheart, Kinks, Bonzo Dog Band, Beau Brummels,Johnny Cash, NRBQ

Similar Artists Sears Blender, Les Paulverizer , early Kinks or possibly T-Rex

Artist History Puncture Number 43 DUF DAVIS AND THE BOOK CLUB I Hate People (Galactic) Duf Davis may well hate people-with no exceptions-but it's a happy little detestation-fest the band are spinning here. Sure, they take pot shots at mama's boys, see the unnatural waste and stupidity of space travel, and expose a man's real motivation for going to Lilith Fair-but the put-downs are so buoyed up with tambourine beats and baa-baa-baa-baa background vocals that they turn into a kind of refreshing beverage poured from a brightly colored can. In a move perhaps meant to put off the fly-by-night listeners and reviewers (such as myself), the record opens on an oddly de-tuned, or Duf-microtonal, guitar instrumental called "Sorry" that gets off to a false start, apologizes, and then finger-picks like a demented John Hurt for about a minute. What's this, you might ask, a descendent of Menster Phipp or Daniel Johnston? Another naïve outsider noodling his flying-saucer signals from some lost corner of New Jersey? Nah, this song is just a feint. For the most part, pretty crafty pop songwriting, tricky arrangements (with horns on some songs), and clean production fill these tracks. As for stylistic influences on the band's odd and highly original brand of semi-acoustic instrumentation and sophisticated vocal melodies, I can't zero in on any more definite sources than early Kinks, or possibly T-Rex. Sometimes Duf Davis' joke face is so cute and smarmy I just want to smack it-which could be the exact response he wants to provoke in a listener. Still, I don't think he reaches the same level of satanic/ ironic hate for people as say, Ben Waller of the Country Teasers (my favorite hater), who walks backward, punning and tricking the listener with his various disguises. Maybe it's just the sound of Duf's voice, unmistakably genuine, even when cracking wise, that is his secret weapon. As though one aspect of his hating attitude is to confront the world with his sincerity. -Bob Pomerby

Group Members Duf Davis, Tim Korzun, Chris Breetveld, Ben

Instruments 12string acoustic guitar, bass & drums (+piano & real horns and stuff)

Albums Endless Mindless Violence (1994), I Hate People...No Exceptions (1998), A Healthy Obsession With Death (1999), How To Talk To Your Child About Satan (fall 1999)

Press Reviews THE ABSOLUTE SOUND Issue 106 May/ June 1996 DUF DAVIS+THE BOOK CLUB: Endless Mindless Violence Tim Korzun (producer) Greg Frey & Glenn Taylor (engineers) Galactic 3.141592 At first I was fooled by the title of this independently produced CD, thinking it would be the typically unlistenable bilge one expects to find on such left-of-center projects. On the contrary - Duf Davis and the Book Club's debut recording is highly original and imaginative, but most of all, it is refreshingly entertaining with remarkable repeatability. A thinking person's alternative to inane pop/rock/folk/alternative, this CD will haunt you with its "acoustic with an edge" aura. The recording has an intimate warmth and yet a clarity that will please even the most discerning audiophile. The musicians are accomplished and soulful with "Duf Davis" proving to be a vocal chameleon able to switch from a somber growl to Buddy Holly sweetness within a beat, as on the quiet rocker "Hold Me Close (don't ever leave me)." Other standouts include "Rage" (a hilarious grunge song), "Riding 'Cross the Galaxy" (space alien pop), "Mary Mary" (a thoughtful love ballad), "Saturday Night" (an infectious toe-tappin' rocker), and "Father to Son a Calling" (a heartfelt Johnny Cash homage). The self-referential "When I Was a Human" and "Me Me Me" are particularly witty and prime examples of the band's affable humor- somewhat akin to The Traveling Wilburys. The recording is replete with novel soundbites, including a few choice comments from none other than Orson Wells! The clincher is the inclusion of an intermission "between sides" that takes eloquent potshots at CDs while lamenting the loss of vinyl as the pre-eminent format. The packaging (a sort of laid-back Sgt. Pepper's for the 90s) works in tandem with the recording and features a 26-page booklet containing exquisitely caligrified lyrics and a Granville motif, in short, it has to be seen to be believed. - Bruce Lawton TIME AND A WORD Winter 1995/'96 DUF DAVIS+THE BOOK CLUB: Endless Mindless Violence (Galactic) Certainly one of the most bizarre and captivating musical amalgamations of recent times can be found on this recent disc by New Jersey-based singer-songwriter Duf Davis. Davis wields a mind blowing assortment of sounds and influences-one minute you're listening to quintessential '60s flavored melodic folk-rock, then it's tongue in cheek rock comedy ala The Rutles or early Zappa, and yet the next it's Johnny Cash meets Rod Serling in the Twilight Zone! Often as hilarious as it is musically divine, the sound quality is commendable and the keen packaging and lyric booklet makes this set worth revisiting. A wide range of supporting musicians impeccably flesh out the music with special mention going to multi-instrumentalists Chris Breetveld and Tim Korzun. The promising Davis will hopefully further invent himself as a satirical guitar-toting social critic as well as an out-of-sight tunesmith to be reckoned with.

Additional Info Galactic Recording Company 51 Grover Ave., Princeton, NJ 08540 phone/fax: 609-921-3168

Location Princeton, NJ - USA

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