12:12 Tune of the Day: Thunderbugs — The Koala Fires
Posted By Ben W. on September 23, 2009
It’s Midpoint Music Fest in Cincinnati this weekend. So all week, we’re gonna dedicate our 12:12 Tuners to great artists you should check out if you happen to be in town and have a spare $30 bill burning a hole in your pocket.
Let me just say that I consider The Koala Fires to be very lucky. They’re only dealing with thunderbugs. Me? I have a full-on outbreak of fleas in my apartment right now. I’ve got fleas diving in and out of my socks. Swimming in my cereal. Tap dancing on my pillow. It’s awful. (You think you know. But you have no idea.)
At least The Koala Fires had the good sense to trap their insect infestation in a jar in the back seat of the car. Of course, I have the sneaking suspicion that singer/guitarist Matt Mooney isn’t literally talking about the creation of a new super bug in today’s 12:12 Tuner. He’s just being clever. Which is pretty much par for the course with this Cincinnati power-pop group.
Theirs is intelligently crafted rock music. They’ve got giant hooks, great group vocals and nicely arranged dual guitar interplay. The band’s secret weapon, though, is its ability to shift rhythms (and often styles) drastically during the same song. Mike Paolucci deserves a lot of credit for this, and surely is one of Cincinnati’s best rock drummers. “Thunderbugs,” for instance, goes from trendy post-punk (intro/outro) to straight-up rock (chorus) to a kind of hybrid of both (verse) and back again — all quite seamlessly.
The band is putting the finishing touches on its debut album this fall. Being the creative, innovative gents they are, they’ve a very cool set of “Making The Album” videos available for your viewing pleasure here, here, here and here.
Their 2008 “Sleep Tight, Lucky Grills” EP is very downloadable.
And The Koala Fires are of course playing at Midpoint — 9:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25 at the Courtyard Cafe on Main Street smack dab in the middle of downtown Cincinnati.
Do it.
Check back Thursday for a song by You, You’re Awesome.
Click here for Tuesday’s song by Coltrane Motion.
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Movin to the country. Gonna eat a lot of peaches.
No doubt, this is one of the better songs I’ve heard this year. They got a tough draw at Midpoint playing opposite the Bastards, but if concert-goers have any sense, Courtyard Cafe will be packed none-the-less.