Sgt. Dunbar & the Hobo Banned may actually be one of the biggest bands to come out of Albany so far. I say this because the played SXSW’09 this March. Acts who play at the annual concert (+ other things) are often discovered by major labels, or at least more people. A quick Google search finds that there have been positive reviews for the band.
Part of an Elephant 6/Broken Social Scene like musical collective, the B3nson recording company of Albany, the band sounds much like a–hobo band, Grapes of Wrath: The Musical. Violins, Trumpets and typewriters along side guitar and drums, all crowded on the stage.
(Or to put it in relative music terms, they sound like really loud version of Nuetral Milk Hotel, with musical saw an all, if Jeff Magnum wanted to rock out more. )
In an interview with music blog fork/knife, lead singer Alex Muro explains the band’s name, giving some insight to the character of the band:
fork/knife:You really have a truly unique and clever band name. Could you describe how that came about? You mention meeting someone named Sgt. Dunbar on a bus on your MySpace.
Eric: We were reading Catch 22 and…
Alex: We actually got the name from a real hobo who I met on a greyhound bus going from Albany to Kingston, NY around October of 2004 I would say. He was a really interesting guy and told me a lot of stories about his life, like growing up in Georgia and his mom and being in Vietnam and then traveling around the country afterward because he didn’t feel like he could live a normal life. He talked about the importance of giving more than you take away, he said that was the difference between a Hobo and a Bum was that a Hobo gave but a Bum only took. He talked about a lot of stuff, and he gave me some of his whiskey and it just sort of made a lasting impression on me. When I got back to Albany I told everyone about it and after a while it came up in discussion that Sgt Dunbar & the Hobo Band would be a great band name and after a little thought we figured that Sgt Dunbar & the Hobo Banned would be an even better band name.
The band is all about strange encounters. The first time I saw was at the tail end of the show seen in the video at the end of the Aficionado post. It was just a lot of guys and girls in a slightly hobo/early century get-up. My first real Dunbar experience was at lower level of Valetines’ one of the major musical venue’s for any band starting out off in Albany. I was drag out for the night with Katie and fellow St. Rose Chronicle staff member Matt to see them with Deer Tick.
I don’t remember all of the night, but I do remember Alex wailing out on “Tomatoes & Radiowire” from their first album While Waiting for the Space Age. That and a cover of ”Rainy-Day Women #12 & 35″ that got me into Dylan.
After that album the band has put out The Thing About Time later in 2008 and has recently followed-up with the Charles Mingus’ Garbage Pile E.P.
The band is nothing but innovative. Here’s the list of people who make up the band and what they play:
Alex Muro- vocals, guitars, accordion, trumpet, tuba.
Tim Koch- trumpet, drums, vocals, tuba, guitars, trombone, noises, banjolele, typewriter, feedback, bass, coffee mugs.
Dan Pardee- singing saws, accordion, vocals, typewriter, trombone, kazoo, avant garde steel chair, drums, squeaky glass pot top.
Donna Baird – cornet, french horn, vocals, alto horn.
Eric Krans – bass, mandolin, guitar, drums, vocals, noise.
Adam Muro – banjo, saxophone, clarinet, flute, sax noise, bass.
Louis Apicello- trumpet, flugel horn, trumbent, Quinlan horn, drums, kazoo.
Jen O’Connor- violin, percussion, vocals, drums, mandolin, lil’ tikes, typewriter.
Adam Zurbruegg – bass, vocals, guitar, drums.
It may look like a joke but, they have played at least half those instruments at a show.
The thing about The Thing About Time is that is a fine example of what the band sound is and what they are all about. It opens with “Passing Time” and strumming on the guitar, with each instrument introducing themselves slowly before the large chorus of ‘Wake up!’ Sgt. Dunbar can be dreamy and droning but also alternates between that and bursting out loud. The song leads right into “Dave’s Song” which continues to urge the listener to wake up. ”Don’t Fall Asleep” makes the idea really clear, however in an artful move the band fades out slowly, mimicking sleep.
The album explores the balance of the past and future, being awake and being asleep, being ignorant and aware. “The Weight” describes the world contradictions of the world today, both negative and positive:
Some people’s love is just rubbing bodies /
and some people’s dreams are dragging them down /
well, some people’s thoughts are paid advertisements /
and some people’s hopes are part of the crowd…sometimes we are every person /
and sometimes everyone is us
I don’t want to give the impression that the band is just well-done folk that is simply atmospheric. The following pair of songs, “Move Your Memories, Pt. I & II” brings the album to something more up-tempo, with the latter part featuring a great use of the musical saw. “Realism Is the Purest Form of Art” moves the album in darker territory, however is one that most of the people tend sing along to as it returns to the chorus of ’Wake up!’
The latter part continues to get darker and perhaps more depressing with “Telescope.” “Communist Father” (Perhaps a Neutral Milk Hotel reference), “Coin Operated Boy” (Not the Dresden Dolls song.) The penultimate song is the instrumental “Spleen & Ideal,” which features the brass section of the band and some very interesting percussion. It ends on “I Am As Aimless as the Wind,” a title and song that seems to sum up the album: transient, much like life and time.
I am really enjoying the Charles Mingus’ Garbage Pile E.P. The band seems to be having fun on the album as we get snippets of chatter between bandmates in between songs and the band seems to “rock out” a bit more than with the prveious. L.P. A perfect example of this are the opening song “Everything Is, Pt. III” and the title track “A March Through Charles Mingus’ Garbage Pile.” “The Table & The Cup” features Tim Koch taking over vocals for the song, an interesting shift that pays off. Basically every song is great for an E.P. that lasts only 16 minutes. (There’s also a surprise at the end of the album, so I would get it.)
Sgt. Dunbar & the Hobo Banned are not just some fad band trying to bring hobo/turn of the century style back. They are intelligent musicians who do well at what would consider to be a ’sloppy’ sound, it’s a controlled chaos. They also seem like a big family ready to welcome you into the fold at each show, even though they travel town from town.
You know, for the tours.
