Late, great bands like Talking Heads and The Clash created a punk-funk vibe that lay dormant until Preferably Tapioca picked up the spoon on Girl Scout Pocket Songbook. These four lads from Marbletown and Rochester, New York—Raphael Cohen on bass, trombone, and vocals; Anton Cullo on drums; Liam Mathews on lead vocals and sax; and Weston Minissalli on guitar and vocals—mash up a style with equal servings for your hips and head.
The opening track, “Everybody Loves a Martyr,” uses the word transubstantiation in the second line (so you don’t have to look it up, the term refers to the biblical changing of bread and wine into the body and blood of the Eucharist). Other tight tracks include the twisted “Smokey the Octopus” and the hard-rocking closing tune, “No Reflection.” The band, which often slips under the radar of voters in area teenage band battles, pays no mind and happily plays with reckless abandon. Recorded by Chris Cullo (Anton’s dad and Murali Coryell’s drummer) in their home studio, the sessions are clear and easy on the ear. Way beyond a garage band, Preferably Tapioca is funky-fresh and more than the sum of its ingredients. www.myspace.com/preferablytapioca.com.
This article appears in July 2007.
