Ever since Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau christened Los Feliz as hipster central a decade ago in Swingers, the neighborhood has been waiting for an appearance by Richard Cheese and Lounge Against The Machine.
At least Cheese himself thinks so, and he’s now ready to deliver. “There’s a picture of the Derby sign in the artwork on our first CD,” Cheese says. “I always wanted to perform inside—but so far I’ve only had dinner there.”
Cheese and his band, Lounge Against The Machine, will deliver their signature lounge-style versions of popular rock, metal and hip-hop songs. (Cheese covered Rage Against the Machine on the debut disc, leading to the moniker for the band, which features Bobby Ricotta, Gordon Brie and Frank Feta.) A disclaimer on the CDs warns “These are new performances and not renditions by the original artists,” but one listen and that’s obvious.
On the recently released Silent Nightclub, Cheese wraps his smarmy vocals around tunes like “Ice Ice Baby” and “Personal Jesus,” among others. He’ll perform songs from that disc and the others (Lounge Against The Machine, I’d Like A Virgin, Tuxicity, Aperitif For Destruction) as part of the new Drinkchronicity Tour (“Now with more crooning”), which follows last year’s Let It Brie “farewell” shows. “I’ll sing more of the ballads–then I don’t have to pay the drummer and the bass player for a full night,” Cheese jokes.
Sure, the humor is as pungent as a wheel of camembert left in the sun on a summer day, and reminiscent of Weird Al Yankovic—if only he were ever actually funny. But it’s safe to say you’ve never really heard your favorite songs until you’ve heard them sung by Cheese.
Cheese and Lounge Against The Machine will appear at The Derby on June 29. Go to www.richardcheese.com for more information and to purchase tickets.
No comments:
Post a Comment