The Wrong Trousers Killed the Radio Star

May 3, 2007 5:48 AM

The Wrong Trousers (Quick! If the goofy song "Calvin" starts playing, click to play the other song, "Had") are an unconventional three-piece folky music group, with an average age of 16. Their stated influences are: Alfred Lord Tennyson, Joseph Campbell, Joni Mitchell, Salvadore Dali, Neil Innes, Thomas Jefferson, Matta and mom & dad. A friend of mine found them when he was nostalgically searching for an 80's music video and instead found this. At first watch, I thought it was a gag (either intentional or not), but found it somehow compelling to watch. I think they remind me of what my brother and I and our friends would do in hish school, except with some talent. I really like I their original song,"Had." (The other song is a burlesquey thing that I don't). The word on this odd-looking group is apparently spreading.
posted by centerpunch (34 comments total)

Damn, I thought this was going to be about Wallace & Gromit :(
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:03 AM on May 3, 2007

I thought this would be Wallace and Gromit!!!
posted by wheelieman at 6:03 AM on May 3, 2007

Anglophile Americans are officially my new favourite thing.
posted by Jofus at 6:16 AM on May 3, 2007

Are they odd-looking because two of them are kind of fat? Because that's silly. I think they're completely (and refreshingly) cute and normal-looking. And talented, too. I think both of their original songs are adorable, and the female singer's voice has that perfect combination of untrained yet strong with a hint of the almost annoying that I really like (seriously). She shouldn't have tried to sing like Joanna Newsom on the Joanna Newsom cover though. Only Joanna Newsom can sing like Joanna Newsom.
posted by Wroksie at 6:18 AM on May 3, 2007

So they have two songs that have together been played around 10,000 times on the Internet. There are more popular YouTube farting videos than this.

The Had song was OK.
posted by DU at 6:23 AM on May 3, 2007

Sorry to waste your time. Get back to watching your farting videos.
posted by centerpunch at 6:27 AM on May 3, 2007

That was fun.

I'll be waiting for them to release a CD.
posted by pjdoland at 6:32 AM on May 3, 2007

Only Joanna Newsom can sing like Joanna Newsom

Thankfully. *shudders*

I eagerly await their debut album.
posted by phrontist at 6:40 AM on May 3, 2007

Calvin > Had
posted by 23skidoo at 6:42 AM on May 3, 2007

At first I just clicked on the youtube link & they reminded me a lot of the first time I saw They Might Be Giants. I remember looking at these young geeky guys & thinking "Wow. They're quirky & they're putting a lot of fun energy into playing with odd instrument choices. Me likey. Don't know how long they'll last in the music business though, they might end up too gimmicky. Oh well. It's fun now."

Second thought I had was "Hey! That's Balboa Park! Yay for San Diego kids! Woo hoo!"
posted by miss lynnster at 6:52 AM on May 3, 2007

I like em'.
posted by petersn1 at 6:59 AM on May 3, 2007

Anybody else reminded of Nickel Creek?
posted by taumeson at 7:06 AM on May 3, 2007

They're cute, but they're no Wallace and Gromit.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:07 AM on May 3, 2007

The Judys were the rage in my day.
posted by iconjack at 7:13 AM on May 3, 2007

Hmm. Ed's Redeeming Qualities?
posted by hamfisted at 7:16 AM on May 3, 2007

Pretty good. She's got a cute voice.

I was so super-depressed grunge kid when I was in high-school. This is refreshing.
posted by Bookhouse at 7:16 AM on May 3, 2007

I dunno, I'm impressed and amused by any group willing to pull a full size harp outside to play "Video Killed the Radio Star." Seriously, I bet they were having a ton of fun doing this.
posted by KirTakat at 7:38 AM on May 3, 2007 [1 favorite]

Cuteness. I despise this cuteness. These clever and precocious teenies citing Dali and Jefferson and singing their quirky widdle sing-songy songs out on the grass under the suburban sun. I want R.L. Burnside and Jerry Lee Lewis to come and hurl flaming chunks of mangled, out-of-tune distortion on their cherubic faces, to shower them with molten, churning Delta grits and evil moans. To fill the air with pig fat and cigar smoke, to spew rotgut whiskey and barely intelligible lines about sweaty women and dancing corpses all over their heads and between their toes.

Still, I wish these youngsters all the best, no kidding. And lotsa folks just wuv this kinda stuff, so I bet they'll do well.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:46 AM on May 3, 2007 [3 favorites]

Take a deep breath, flapjax. The cute kids won't hurt you. Maybe they'll even do a few Tom Waits covers down the road to make you happy. "The Mandolin Has Been Drinking" or something.
posted by miss lynnster at 7:56 AM on May 3, 2007

5 thumbs up for the group.
posted by mesmerx at 8:32 AM on May 3, 2007

Young, talented, creative kids. Maybe there's hope for the world yet.
posted by MotherTucker at 8:47 AM on May 3, 2007

Flapjax, I do see your point. Those kids are great and talented, but the aesthetic is not exactly mine either.

Give these Aussie kids a little time and they'll probably give you what you want. From their Myspace profile:

The Silver Lemons are a stuff around band which consists of Nicholas Lambos (14, ...) on guitar and Stephen Lambos (12) on drums who have both recently made this band as a leave from Deadly Autumn. Stephen isn't that experienced on drums but its the best they can find at the moment. They are sorry if the drum beats sound the same and if the recording sounds really bad as they record through an in-built microphone on a laptop.

posted by chinese_fashion at 8:49 AM on May 3, 2007

AAhh, dammit, stuffed up the link above. Try this.
posted by chinese_fashion at 9:01 AM on May 3, 2007

Awesome! My friends and I spent our high school years playing Grateful Dead covers at sidewalk fairs. Clad in (expensive) tie-dyes and sandals we tried so hard to be something that we weren't.

Which is what high school is all about, really.

These kids, however, strike me as utterly sincere and - more importantly - rather talented. Great stuff!
posted by aladfar at 9:17 AM on May 3, 2007

Are they odd-looking because two of them are kind of fat? Because that's silly. I think they're completely (and refreshingly) cute and normal-looking.

I didn't mean they were personally odd, I just meant their choice of instruments is unconventional.
posted by centerpunch at 9:18 AM on May 3, 2007

Thanks for the tip. The vocals on "Had" remind me a bit of The Anniversary, which is nice.
posted by rush at 10:39 AM on May 3, 2007

What's "hish school"?
posted by tadellin at 11:59 AM on May 3, 2007

It's kind of like ashhole.
posted by centerpunch at 12:07 PM on May 3, 2007

I liked it, more than a little. But for some reason I couldn't help thinking that 200 years ago this level of musical talent would have been quite common. Y'know, back when we had to create our own entertainment, before radio, TV, the internet, etc.

Not to say I have a level of musical talent that even approaches these kids... I'm just sayin'.
posted by keep_evolving at 12:17 PM on May 3, 2007 [1 favorite]

What is wrong with The Kids these days!

With the quirky folk music. And the stand up bass playing. And the prairie dresses. And the happy devil-may-care attitudes. And the imaginative talent.

Damn them. Why can't they just sit at their computers and bitch like everybody else!

These guys were damn good. I'd give them money.
posted by tkchrist at 12:30 PM on May 3, 2007 [1 favorite]

I enjoyed their blog post about being recognized at Coachella. (I never knew you could uptalk in writing, though.)
posted by dhartung at 3:32 PM on May 3, 2007

You didn't know that San Diego uptalk? Is totally writeable? Oh. My. God. Like totally!
posted by miss lynnster at 3:47 PM on May 3, 2007

dhartung, you clearly don't run in the same circles I do?

Too bad I'm moving out of San Diego next month, I could totally become a fan of these kids.
posted by crinklebat at 7:16 PM on May 3, 2007

I really dig the Regina Spektor cover they do towards the end of this clip (right around the 6:00 minute mark). The mandolin kid ROCKS out :)
posted by mikeweeney at 3:28 AM on May 4, 2007