REVIEWS FOR HAPPIER THAN YOU
NPR: All Songs Considered
“Irreverent and hilarious.”
ALL MUSIC GUIDE
“If you call your band Jesus H Christ and the Four Hornsmen of the Apocalypse
you better be ready to bring some serious mojo to the party. It's a name that's
guaranteed to piss people off and produce a strong reaction, and the band lives
up to its snarky moniker with 13 tasty little gems that take a jaundiced view
of modern life in all its vexing complexity. The Hornsmen play in a variety
of styles that reference everything from blues shuffles to ska syncopations
to new wave jitter. They keep the party going with their energetic presentation
and the terrific vocals of lead singer and songwriter Risa Mickenberg, a stylist
who can shift from girlish merriment to smoky solemnity in the batting of an
eye. There is indeed a horn section, but it doesn't take center stage, except
on the new wave/ska/B-movie theme instrumental "The Vixen." Mostly,
it's part of a unified front that puts everything into the service of the song,
and the songs here are uniformly superb. If you think of the the B-52's doing
songs written by Elvis Costello and arranged by Nick Lowe you'll be in ballpark,
but the band has a skewed personality that's all its own. Take "Back Burner
Guy," for example. It sounds like a '60s era girl group pop tune, but
the attitude of callous narcissism is contemporary. Mickenberg sounds gleeful
as she keeps her second string beau at arms length with a teasing vocal. "You'll
never kiss me, so don't even try," she sings, with enough of a smile in
her voice to keep the sap hanging on. "Vanity Surfin'" is indeed
a surf tune, but it's about people who surf the net to Google themselves for
a cheap kick and is a lot funnier than this dry description might lead you
to believe. "I Miss Your Arm" is a late-night salon standard that
could have been written in the '40s, a song of lost love that Mickenberg sings
with aching sincerity. "Alcoholics in My Town" is either laugh-out-loud
funny, or a pathetic commentary of small town life; it probably depends on
your viewpoint or drinking habits. It's a slow bluesy tune with a touch of
surf guitar twang that paints little vignettes of the loners and losers we've
all known. "I Hope You're Happy" is a modern talking blues with a
deadly punch line, about trying to come to terms with a failed relationship.
Mickenberg and Joel Shelton, the band's guitarist and co-songwriter, sing the
lyrics with a deadpan delivery that intensifies its deadly irony. The Hornsmen
have obvious influences, but they've been blending into the band's unified
vision. Their literate, darkly humorous lyrics, inventive arrangements, and
the edgy, effervescent vocals of Mickenberg make them something special.” – J.
Poet
BLENDER MAGAZINE:
Sexually experienced Manhattan SWF seeks
companionship--really wants to talk about it.
Backed faithfully by an all-male septet
that injects stealth hooks and four horns into its accomplished theater
rock, Risa Mickenberg speaks for the neurotic women on whom neurotic
men blame their problems. A satirist who aimed for laugh lines on Jesus's
2006 debut, she's both sharper and nicer here. Though "Liz the
Hot Receptionist" is incurably dim, and anyone willing to stay
on ice as Mickenberg's "Back Burner Guy" has only himself
to blame, the missed connection of "Julie on the Fung Wah Bus" is
a romance disguised as a spoof, and you'd have to be meaner than Mickenberg
to mock poor Monica, the character whose answering-machine entreaties
provide the entire lyric of "I'm Around." Mickenberg has
the kind of cutesy voice that jerks find annoying unless it comes with
porn skills. Non-jerks who go for the brains it masks stand a chance
of being remembered as fondly as the lost love of "I Hope You're
Happy." - Robert Christgau, Blender, Dec. 2008
EPINIONS: BRIAN BLOCK: BEST ALBUMS OF
2008 (#13)
Risa Mickenberg is, as far as I know, the funniest lyricist going these
days, which is not to say her band should be filed (or dismissed, if
that's your sad way) with Tom Lehrer or Moxy Fruvous or They Might
Be Giants. Hers is a social, storytelling humor of the people around
her, Atom and His Package with more devoted rhyming skills and a less-flourished
geekiness. Why, seven of the thirteen songs are about male/female relationships,
even if Risa is more likely than most to ask you to be her "Back
Burner Guy" ("you can stroke my ego, but that's all")
or to imagine a song in Missed Connections Craigslist ad form. The
jazzy Rogers-and-Hammersteiny show tune "I Miss Your Arm" doesn't
miss her ex's brain or his personality or his sexxxing her up, but
does miss his sheer comforting physical presence. Which actually isn't
funny, but humor often is simply the guise that unused good ideas hide
in.
When they want to, the Four Hornsmen
play top-notch good-time rock and roll, supplemented with horn section
(hence the name) and the sprightly Cars-style synth lines that Del
Shannon legitimized way back in 1961. More often they're futzing skillfully
with surf-rock ("Vanity Surfin'"'s internet goofery is lyrically
simple but musically far more developed than the genre requires), or
balancing piano balladry with thrash-punk, or waiting for some Rockettes
to prance by, or doing a gentle folk sing-along tribute to the "Alcoholics
in My Town". I have no idea how sincere the album is, and I may
not have expected to care. But the spoken-word sections of "I
Hope You're Happy" are as emotionally universal and touching as
they are weird and specific in detail, "Pathetic" sure works
as an anthem, and "I'm Around" actually sort of frightens
me and probably drops the album a few ranks from where it belongs.
The lesson being, don't judge a band on their stupid name, even if,
like me, you're in favor of the stupid name.” – Brian Block
THE NEW YORKER MAGAZINE
“The local ensemble Jesus H Christ
and the Four Hornsmen of the Apocalypse has a crusading horn section,
some fine guitar playing, and a growing catalogue of sharply satirical
power pop. Having made a splash on the Internet and satellite radio
two years ago with the sparkling ditty “Connecticut’s for
Fucking” and a self-titled album, the group has a new album of
prickly songs, “Happier Than You.”
75 OR LESS.com
“Imagine that Sarah Silverman
never decided that saying "fuck" and shocking people was
clever, and it actually made her funnier. And then while working on
Mr. Show, Jack Black played her a Tenacious D demo and she decided
to steal the idea and rework it as horn-laden power pop. That's basically
what we've got here, and it is fantastic. Any album that teaches me
a new song to sing for my 2 year-old, including the lyric "Like
an anorexic needs self-esteem/you gotta have a dream" ...well,
that's a winner.”
MSN.COM INSIDE MUSIC.
“Remember Lina Lamont in "Singin' in the Rain"? Imagine a woman
who sings the way she talks -- only she can carry a tune and use her brain.
Most guys consider her affected, but therapy has taught her that that voice
is just part of who she is, like her insecurities, and she copes with both.
Mostly in the first person, she explores characters like the compulsively obliging
half-Broadway chameleon she is, even a guy once. She's manipulative in "Back
Burner Guy," desperate in "I'm Around," over it in "I Miss
Your Arm," not actually over it in "I Hope You're Happy" post-celibate
in "Dry Spell": "Suddenly she feels pretty/Suddenly she feels
young/Suddenly her neighbor on the co-op board is not wrong." If you have
a heart, you'll wish her the best.”
MY CRAZY MUSIC BLOG
“Perhaps more intimidating than Jesus H. Christ and the Four Hornsmen
of the Apocalypse's portentous name is the collective musical experience represented
by the approximately 8+ piece band, and as a reviewer I hesitate to attempt
an adequate description of the ribald intelligence clearly manifest when musicians
who have played with artists from Prince to Elton John join others who include
Broadway performers, a recipient of the Pushcart Prize and the author of the
book Taxi Driver Wisdom. The seemingly incongrous list of descriptors that
the band offers on their website, featuring more nouns like "compassion
fatigue, boobs, Old Lyme, and widower-lust" than typical promotional adjectives,
implies both their winking sense of humor and allusive creativity. Happier
Than You is accordingly flippant yet shrewd; too burlesque to be severe, yet
too smart to be trivial.
Much like the similarly theatrical World/Inferno
Friendship Society, the acronymically daunting JHC&TFHotA creates
a specific band identity and internal culture comprising idiosyncratic
narrative vignettes. Songs like album opener "Liz the Hot Receptionist" work
in part because listeners recognize the stereotype of the attractive
secretary who buys Sudoku on her way to work and eventually marries
a real-estate agent. "Alcoholics in my Town" collates various
personalities affected by the titular habit before chorusing across
brands of liquor and ending in some of the most sardonic "ba-ba-ba's" this
side of the But I'm a Cheerleader soundtrack. Most songs present their
subjects through this satirical lens, either advocating "a brand
new surfing sensation/for the sedentary generation" on "Vanity
Surfin'" or celebrating the simple fact that a formerly celibate
woman was finally able to "get her rocks off" on closer "Dry
Spell." Even the album's most overtly self-loathing track, "Pathetic," lampoons
its piteous narrator with mock questions like "Do you hate me
for asking if you hate me?
Yet, all the derisive witticisms of
a late George Carlin act may not always constitute a successful music
album, and fortunately JHC&TFHotA supports its lyrical acumen with
rousing horns and a powerfully voiced female vocalist who leads the
whole procession as if they were in turn helping her lure a cartoon
wolf listening with his tongue on the floor. The trumpets and trombones
accent rhythmic guitar work that transforms styles between bouncing
ska riffs, punk distortion and a little bit of surf, while pedal steels,
upright basses, and the sound of tap dancing all add to the carnivalesque
atmosphere. At times I was left hoping that some bittersweet moments
had been extended further, such as those slightly melancholy details
mentioned at the beginning of "Liz the Hot Receptionist," and
occasionally the band's irreverent personality seem lacking in sympathy
for the characters it creates. The searching specificity of these comments,
however, indicates how rapidly this collection of talent has then realized
its singular identity.”
THE NEWS OBSERVER (CHARLOTTE, N.C.)
“Most of us pass through this vale of tears whipsawing between rage and
despair at the annoying dreck on display around us. Brothers and sisters, Risa
Mickenberg feels your pain. Her group's second album is another fabulous collection
of punchline pop -- theatrical, funny, catchy and most of all smart. From the
titular subject of "Liz the Hot Receptionist" to the self-esteem-deprived
loser in "Pathetic," you know these people -- or you are these people.-
David Menconi
SANTA FE NEW MEXICAN
"This is a poppy little New York group with, yes, four hornsmen (trumpet,
sax, and two trombones) and an amazing singer, Risa Mickenberg, who has a sexy,
nasally voice and a nicely skewed outlook on love, life, and people we all
know.
The album starts out with a song about a character that office workers
around the world will recognize: "Liz, the Hot Receptionist." ("She
never got promoted/Always wondered why/Her desk was by the printer:
easy to stop by.")
Mickenberg sings about the type of relationship that rarely makes it
to song in "Back Burner Guy." It's about a man she wants
around to "talk about music, talk about art" and have in
case her real relationship falls through. "As long as I know you
lust after me/I can be the girl he wants me to be," she happily
chirps.
Another favorite is "Alcoholics in My Town" sung by Mickenberg
and band mate Joel Shelton. It's a folk/rocky little tune about the
sad but lovable town drunks they know. Mickenberg and Shelton also
share vocals on "Vanity Surfing," which is about Googling
yourself on the Internet. (”It’s a special kind of masturbation,” Shelton
sings.”)
I hope they Google this." - Steve Terrell
DUKE OF STRAW
“Not only do Jesus H Christ And The Four Hornsmen Of The Apocalypse have
one of the best bands names in music today, they also make a kind of music
no one else is performing. Let’s call it: Ska-mical (part ska, part comedy).
Their songs are humorous in nature and
have a strong horn presence. The powerchord guitars are nicely distorted.
And they use the whole band for backup vocals.
Their new album is called “Happier
Than You” and has 13 lucky tracks. They may have gained some
interest with their song “Connecticut’s For Fucking” but
this new album proves they are more than just a one-of novelty band.”
SPIN MAGAZINE- SONGS TO DOWNLOAD NOW: Alcoholics in my town
BEST ALBUMS OF 2008
CHUCK EDDY- RHAPSODY BLOG
DR. DEMENTO YEAR END COMPILATION ALBUM:
Vanity Surfin'
REVIEWS FOR
DEBUT SELF-TITLED CD
"Irreverent and hilarious."- NPR All Songs Considered
THE CRITICS ON JHC:
THE NEW YORKER MAGAZINE
Pop Notes: One of ten CDs of 2006 worth a second listen.
"This lovable local band transcends the novelty of its name with wry,
thundering power-pop songs about such previously underexplored subjects as
the boredom of living in the Constitution State (Connecticut Is for Fucking),
the appeal of the recently widowed (Do Me), and how pharmaceuticals can help
love (Happy Me)."
THE VILLAGE VOICE – ROBERT CHRISTGAU,
Dean of American Rock Critics: Consumer Guide- Pick hits
"Risa Mickenberg writes and sings satirical theater songs accompanied
by g-b-d-and-sometimes-k, two trumpets, and two trombones. All assume the p.o.v.
of a neurotic young professional woman—loan officer, publicist, social
planner, perhaps even actress—who may be Risa Mickenberg. Some of these
songs are funny, the rest very funny. \"Connecticut's for F*cking\" seems
self-explanatory, \"Ellen's Bicoastal\" cl*se enough; \"Happy
Me\" is about falling in love on meds, \"Vampire Girls\" about
sucking knowledge from your boyfriends. The jewel is the jealous fit \"Obviously\"—\"I
don't care. I mean I think she's a skank, but whatever, I don't care. I just
don't see why you're denying it when it's obvious you two slept together .
NO DEPRESSION MAGAZINE - David Menconi:
"Picture NRBQ with a metallic pop edge and an expanded horn section, fronted
by a singer who looks a bit like Julia Louis Dreyfus, sounds a bit like Sarah
Vowell and writes a bit like Amy Rigby only much nastier. There you have this
wonderful New York band, who will completely rock your world. Risa Mickenberg
and Joel Sheltons songs are side-splittingly funny, starting with Connecticuts
For Fucking (because its a place where thats all there is to do) and its turn-on-a-dime
shifts between metallic snarl and acoustic jingle-jangle. Happy Me cops the
Beatles Nowhere Man guitar riff for a bridge. Vampire Girls rollcalls the slyest
geek-culture hall of fame this side of High Fidelity. And weve had great fun
in my social circle debating which acquaintance is most like the shrewish hellion
in Obviously. Best of all, the music holds up after the laughter subsides."
IDOALTOR.COM - Brian Block:
#3 BEST ALBUM of 2006 "Jesus H. Christ and the Four Horsemen (sic)
of the Apocalypse, who make sure to title their first song "Connecticut's
for Fucking" lest anyone mistake them for Christian rock, have
learned their trade from Revolver, garage-rock, jangle-pop, synth-pop,
performance art, and apparently "Girl from Ipanema". Because
all of their songs are funny, and because the two funniest have over-the-top
spoken-word vocals that I'd feel nervous about putting on a mixtape
for frequent replay, it took me awhile to recognize their debut album
as truly brilliant. But if suburban ennui can be art in the hands of
the Stooges or the Replacements, if relationship dysfunction is a good
enough topic for Bob Dylan or Big Star, if Lou Reed and the Rolling
Stones are allowed to complain about weird girls and Talking Heads
to celebrate the quirks of American culture, I see no reason why JHC&4HotA
can't win awe for doing all the above while being just as emotionally
on-target _and_, at the same time, as ridiculous as we know (in our
wiser moments) the emotions themselves are."
POP MATTERS - Jason MacNeil:
"JHC&TFHotA are an odd blend of Sixpence None the Richer, Arcade Fire,
and New Pornographers if they were all fronted by Amy Sedaris. “Connecticut’s
for Fucking” is a hard-the-soft-then-hard power pop tune that talks about
the Nutmeg State with sweet, sugary harmonies in the chorus as she simulates
what Robin Williams once described as “the bone dance”. “Happy
Me” is a somewhat tamer pop tune with Risa Mickenburg on reedy lead vocals,
and Mickenburg nails the conversational and brassy rocker “Obviously” with
a Lou Reed-like charm. A lot of the songs would be great on Desperate Housewives,
particularly the opportunistic and cheery “Do Me”. ... The summer-sounding
pop of “Vicki Is a Pro” is great, resembling a cross between the
Cars and the Go-Gos. Ditto for the fabulous “It’s OK in the USA”. “Vampire
Girls” name-drops Syd Barrett, Tiny Tim, Malcolm X, and others while
the punk riffs blend with horns. Another highlight is the rather mainstream
bubblegum pop of “Ellen’s Bi Coastal”. “Steve Baylor” has
to be one of the oddest, Zappa-like tracks of the year, and “Nipples” is
a modern day hit the Turtles failed to get around to."
THE VILLAGE VOICE - George Smith :
"An eight-person horn-fired local group making glorious hard pop!" “Hammering
punkarama, namechecking Saul Bellow, Philip K. Dick, and Jerry Lewis.” “Horns
and guitar drive a tank made of suntanned California riff right out of the
speakers.”
TROUSER PRESS - Founder Ira Robbins:
"...Sardonic adult humor in music is amply illustrated by this entertaining
New York octet (half of it being the Four Hornsmen, who add to, without ever
overwhelming, the simple rock music with brass). Delivered in Risa Mickenberg's
winning matter-of-fact voice, "Connecticut's for F*cking" is hysterical,
a deadly putdown of the Nutmeg State as a nadir of middle-class tedium that
proffers copulation as the only entertaining alternative. And "Vampire
Girls," which passingly sounds like the Replacements' "I Don't Know," explodes
the little-known problem of women "who seem like they're really cool until
you realize that everything that's cool about them is something they sucked
out of their ex-boyfriends" with a laundry list of modern-trendy Henry
Higgins acquisitions, from Balzac to Karen Black, Iggy Pop to Photoshop...
TUCSON WEEKLY - Linda Ray:
""In a perfect world, this would be the Saturday Night Live house
band, and reason enough to start watching Saturday Night Live again…Very
smart, very fun, vodka gimlet-eyed music... If you read and loved A Confederacy
of Dunces or A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, this record is for
you. This is not loud, mad music, though, nor is it as frivolously confrontational
as the band name, or the equally stupid cover art. Rather, it's a collection
of intelligently observant and wryly amusing pop/rock/punk takes on gender
politics (read: sex and its complications), the state of the United States
(especially Connecticut) and certain everyday characters and their quirks.
All are set in fine musicianship, with Brian Wilson-worthy harmonies and imaginative
arrangements. (The timely entry of horns on "Do Me" made me laugh
out loud.) Lead singer Risa Mickenberg's voice is peculiar in a way that's
perfectly suited to the lyrics, all written by Mickenberg with guitarist/vocalist
Joel Shelton. Favorite track: "Vampire Girls"--fascinating women
who only know what ex-boyfriends taught them about."
HARP MAGAZINE - Chuck Eddy (Former Village
Voice Music Editor):
"These brassy and Broadway-connected New Yorkers are as much 'cabaret'
as 'rock' but Risa Mickenberg has a voice both sweeter and sourer than 'cabaret'
implies. and a sense of humor too. "She's a Six" (math rock, or at
least decimal point rock, argues that if you want to be happy for the rest
of your life, never make a pretty woman your wife); "Nipples" (funnier
than the Holy Modal Rounders' "Boobs a Lot," and as great a song
about summer as it is a song about breasts); "Do Me" (about wanting
to have sex with a guy whose wife just died, like Michael Hurley and the Unholy
Modal Rounders' "Jeanlous Daddy's Death Song" only backwards): "Connecticut's
For F*cking"; "Vampire Girls"; "Ellen's Bicoastal." Plus "Crazy
Guy," a samba song that starts out as be-bop.”
THE BOSTON HERALD: "Hilarious!" "Deadpan!" "Love!" "Nervy
and mighty amusing!"
PHOENIX NEW TIMES: Pick Of The Week
Nikki D'Andrea-
"Once you've heard "Connecticut's for Fucking," the leadoff
track to JHC&tFHotA's debut album, there's no denying this band's snarky
brilliance. The song's ridiculously catchy pop beat; dorky, nasal punk vocals
(courtesy of the surprisingly sexy Risa Mickenberg); and lampooning of noodling
'80s metal guitar solos is like a bubblegum enema flushing pop punk out of
mainstream music's bloated colon."
THE NEWS OBSERVER (Raleigh, Chapel Hill,
NC)
“The comedy record of the year, with side-splitting musings on life,
love and the pursuit of happiness set to razor-sharp bar-band pop-rock. It's
smart, it's catchy, the music is great.” NEW YORK MAGAZINE: "Smart,
catchy power pop!" F5 WICHITA Tom Hull- : "Anyone who fondly remembers
the Waitresses will have a leg up on this smart, funny, and exuberantly horny
band. Not sure whether the difference is a generation of progress in spite
of backlash or just that lead singer Risa Mickenberg writes her own lines.
Her critique of "Vampire Girls" is spot on, like she's been one and
graduated to being interesting in her own right."
PITCHFORK
Delivering uneasy laughs at the expense of strip-mall culture alongside
power chords and pop hooks, "Connecticut's for Fucking",
by the New York outfit JHC&tFHotA could easily have been a hipster
insider's mean-spirited and elitist satire of yokel outsiders. Instead
it comes across as something much more complicated than simply making
fun of people who aren't from New York. Sounding a little like Amy
Sedaris fronting Fountains of Wayne, Risa Mickenberg (who's the Jesus
H. Christ part of the name, although there seem to be more than four
others in the band, not all on horns) sings from the perspective
of one of many teenagers whose only pastime in such a dull state
is recreational sex. She delivers lines like "I love to listen
to classic rock and have sex with you" with a mix of playfulness
and resignation, and introduces a little gravity into the band's
humor: all those adolescents, she observes, are "waitin' to
turn into the people we are bound to turn into." There's a healthy
dose of incisive class commentary as well: "If we can't afford
to buy antiques," she sings, "then we just copulate." "Connecticut's
for Fucking" sounds more substantial than a novelty track, but
with all the catchy fun that label implies.
HARTFORD COURANT (COURANT.COM) – Eric
Danton
"The lyrics and subject matter are off-kilter, but they're mostly smart
and, to my ears, pretty funny, and the musicians have serious chops. And, as
the band's name implies, there's plenty of dizzying horn work on the album,
mixed with pounding bass and snarling punk guitar riffs. (The album) also features
songs about anti-depressants, seducing the bereaved and psychic vampires: "Girls
who seem like they're really cool until you realize everything that's cool
about them is something they sucked out of their ex-boyfriends," be it
how to fix cars or appreciating the music of Syd Barrett.” The News Observer(Raleigh,
Chapel Hill, NC) “The comedy record of the year, with side-splitting
musings on life, love and the pursuit of happiness set to razor-sharp bar-band
pop-rock. It's smart, it's catchy, the music is great.”
NEW YORK MAGAZINE: "Smart, catchy
power pop!"
F5 WICHITA - Tom Hull:
"Anyone who fondly remembers the Waitresses will have a leg up on this
smart, funny, and exuberantly horny band. Not sure whether the difference is
a generation of progress in spite of backlash or just that lead singer Risa
Mickenberg writes her own lines. Her critique of "Vampire Girls" is
spot on, like she's been one and graduated to being interesting in her own
right." The Boston Globe: “The most raunchy fun!” Don Wilding-
The Cape Codder: "Like Zappa, they'll shock a certain percentage of the
population - and absolutely delight the rest of it."
TIME OUT NEW YORK: (STARRED REVIEW)
“Not just a carpenter and a compassionate religious icon, Jesus H Christ
is also a novelty-pop band fronted by the delightfully baby-voiced Risa Mickenberg
who sings in sugar-sweet tones about being courted by the crazy guy down the
street. Consider it the musical equivalent to Strangers With Candy.”
THE BOSTON METRO:
"Jesus H Christ and the Four Hornsmen of the Apocalypse are hilarious!"
THE BOSCH:
"It's time to open your hearts to Jesus. Jesus H Christ, the totally awesome
band...really does rock."
THE BOSTON PHOENIX:
"Amy Sedaris!" "Upscale!" "Sequined!" “Plenty
of laughs!” “Bald!”
I GUESS I’M FLOATING:
"The happy spirited band from New York take humorous, albeit true, lyrics
and weld them together with music that can only be classified as power pop.
With a lead singer that may remind some of an adolescent Jenny Lewis, the band
claim to be "bald, horny, thundering, glorious, deadly, lovable and sardonic!" The
eight-person ensemble sings about leaching shallow girlfriends, the snags of
living in Connecticut, synthetic feelings via prescription drugs, and the sex
drives of widowhood. Go on, start your weekend off with a smile."
ELECTRIC TOMATOES.COM
“This is not your grandma and grandpa's apocalypse. It’s no fire
and brimstone, no seventh seal, no swaths of unholy agony punctuated by blessed
souls surfing pillars of light "up there." This is pure power-pop
apocalypse (say that five times fast, but we’re not accountable if you
pull a muscle in your tongue). Jesus H. Christ and the Four Hornsmen of the
Apocalypse write catchy, fun songs with plenty of trumpets. The most obvious
comparison they invite is to They Might Be Giants but they also make me think
of a Beulah and Nerf Herder hybrid running on unleaded petroleum goofiness.
The bands real strength is in their lyrics, which deal with topics you'd never
hear on the radio. (Though lets not forget trumpets, who doesn't love trumpets?) “Connecticut
Is for Fucking” is an anthem for people in Dullsville, Anywhere and “Nipples,” in
addition to being a great summery song, makes me think of the novelty classic “Boobs
a Lot.” Check out the band's MySpace, and at your earliest convenience,
start loving them.”
TIMES OF ACADIANA CHOICE CUTS
"Admittedly, Risa Mickenberg's and Joel Shelton's funny, sardonic, catchy
songs cover a narrow terrain -- call it the romantic complications of the Ritalin
generation, a demographic cut loose from traditional moorings and for whom
psychotropic opiates are the religion of the people -- but, Jesus H. Christ,
do they understand their characters! Whether speaking for or at beer-leech
women (Vampire Girls, Crazy Guy, Vicki Is a Pro) or a man who's lowering his
standards (She's a Six), Mickenberg/Shelton's lyrics are detailed enough for
accuracy while stopping just short of the "compassion fatigue" they
sympathize with in It's OK in the USA. Some Days is even sweet, with the songs
accompanied by brass suggesting musical affinities from three or four decades
before lyrics like these would've ever been imagined let alone tolerated."
PAPER THIN WALLS
"You’ll be hearing (Connecticut's For F*cking) for the next 50 years
on various Demento and Son Of Demento compilations and podcasts; but not only
is it funny funny funny, the band takes care of the music, too: a great rattletrap
of a guitar doing fast Ramones chords and then laying a big wet tuneful Johnny
Thunders solo atop it all. Tracks.. twist the comedy from funniness to genuine
emotion and rage. Most moving is "Obviously," Risa bitching out a
lover—“You guys obviously slept together, not that I care; I mean,
I think she’s a skank; but whatever"—which leads to a general
smorgasbord of bitching: "Why do you have to drive like an asshole? You
have to drive, like, right up on the person in front of you’s ass; they
slam on their brakes, you’re dead!" She lets loose with the disappointment
and fury that’s the undertone of this humor, when life doesn't live up
to its billing."
SOME BLOG SOMEWHERE:
"The most delightfully salacious female vocalist since Sippie Wallace."
” THE CAPE CODDER- Don Wilder:
"Like Zappa, they'll shock a certain percentage of the population - and
absolutely delight the rest of it."
LEICESTERBANGS (U.K.):
"Like asparagus, olives, Zappa and cum, Jesus H Christ are an acquired
taste."
Debut CD YEAR END ACCOLADES:
#246 CD Village Voice Pazz and Jop Poll
# 249 CD Idolator Year End Poll
#1 most requested song for more weeks than any song in the history
of Sirius Alt Nation
#4 CD of the year (Phoenix New Times- Nikki Andrea)
#6 CD of the year (Seattle Times/Village Voice- Brian Block)
#16 CD of the year (F5 Witchitaw KS- Tom Hull)
#4 CD of the year (Village Voice George Smith)
#6 CD of the year KPFK Los Angeles
#8 song of the year (Sirius Alt Nation)
#1 song of the year CJIQ- Kitcheners
THE CRITICS ON JHC:
"Hysterical!" "Glorious!" "Neurotic!" "Sardonic!" "Hard!" "Awesome!" "Bald!”
Debut CD YEAR END ACCOLADES:
#246 CD Village Voice Pazz and Jop Poll
# 249 CD Idolator Year End Poll
#1 most requested song for more weeks than any song in the history of Sirius
Alt Nation
#4 CD of the year (Phoenix New Times- Nikki Andrea)
#6 CD of the year (Seattle Times/Village Voice- Brian Block)
#16 CD of the year (F5 Witchitaw KS- Tom Hull)
#4 CD of the year (Village Voice George Smith)
#6 CD of the year KPFK Los Angeles
#8 song of the year (Sirius Alt Nation)
#1 song of the year CJIQ- Kitcheners
THE NEW YORKER MAGAZINE
Pop Notes: One of ten CDs of 2006 worth a second listen.
"This lovable local band transcends the novelty of its name with wry,
thundering power-pop songs about such previously underexplored subjects
as the boredom of living in the Constitution State (Connecticut Is for Fucking),
the appeal of the recently widowed (Do Me), and how pharmaceuticals can
help love (Happy Me)."
THE VILLAGE VOICE – ROBERT CHRISTGAU, Dean of American Rock Critics:
Consumer Guide- Pick hits
"Risa Mickenberg writes and sings satirical theater songs accompanied
by g-b-d-and-sometimes-k, two trumpets,
and two trombones. All assume the p.o.v. of a neurotic young professional
woman—loan officer, publicist, social
planner, perhaps even actress—who may be Risa Mickenberg. Some of these
songs are funny, the rest very funny. \"Connecticut's for F*cking\" seems
self-explanatory, \"Ellen's Bicoastal\" cl*se enough; \"Happy
Me\" is about falling in love on meds, \"Vampire Girls\" about
sucking knowledge from your boyfriends. The jewel is the jealous fit \"Obviously\"—\"I
don't care. I mean I think she's a skank, but whatever, I don't care.
I just don't see why you're denying it when it's obvious you two slept
together .
NO DEPRESSION MAGAZINE: David Menconi
"Picture NRBQ with a metallic pop edge and an expanded horn section, fronted
by a singer who looks a bit like Julia Louis Dreyfus, sounds a bit like
Sarah Vowell and writes a bit like Amy Rigby only much nastier. There you have
this wonderful New York band, who will completely rock your world. Risa Mickenberg
and Joel Sheltons songs are side-splittingly funny, starting with Connecticuts
For Fucking (because its a place where thats all there is to do) and
its turn-on-a-dime shifts between metallic snarl and acoustic jingle-jangle.
Happy Me cops the Beatles Nowhere Man guitar riff for a bridge. Vampire Girls
rollcalls the slyest geek-culture hall of fame this side of High Fidelity. And
weve had great fun in my social circle debating which acquaintance is most like
the shrewish hellion in Obviously. Best of all, the music holds up after the
laughter subsides."
IDOALTOR.COM -Brian Block-
#3 BEST ALBUM of 2006 "Jesus H. Christ and the Four Horsemen (sic)
of the Apocalypse, who make sure to title their first song "Connecticut's
for Fucking" lest anyone mistake them for Christian rock, have learned
their trade from Revolver, garage-rock, jangle-pop, synth-pop, performance
art, and apparently "Girl from Ipanema". Because all of their
songs are funny, and because the two funniest have over-the-top spoken-word
vocals that I'd feel nervous about putting on a mixtape for frequent replay,
it took me awhile to recognize their debut album as truly brilliant. But
if suburban ennui can be art in the hands of the Stooges or the Replacements,
if relationship dysfunction is a good enough topic for Bob Dylan or Big
Star, if Lou Reed and the Rolling Stones are allowed to complain about
weird girls and Talking Heads to celebrate the quirks of American culture,
I see no reason why JHC&4HotA can't win awe for doing all the above
while being just as emotionally on-target _and_, at the same time, as
ridiculous as we know (in our wiser moments) the emotions themselves
are."
POP MATTERS- Jason MacNeil:
"JHC&TFHotA are an odd blend of Sixpence None the Richer, Arcade Fire,
and New Pornographers if they were all fronted by Amy Sedaris. “Connecticut’s
for Fucking” is a hard-the-soft-then-hard power pop tune that talks about
the Nutmeg State with sweet, sugary harmonies in the chorus as she simulates
what Robin Williams once described as “the bone dance”. “Happy
Me” is a somewhat tamer pop tune with Risa Mickenburg on reedy lead vocals,
and Mickenburg nails the conversational and brassy rocker “Obviously” with
a Lou Reed-like charm. A lot of the songs would be great on Desperate Housewives,
particularly the opportunistic and cheery “Do Me”. ... The summer-sounding
pop of “Vicki Is a Pro” is great, resembling a cross between the
Cars and the Go-Gos. Ditto for the fabulous “It’s OK in the USA”. “Vampire
Girls” name-drops Syd Barrett, Tiny Tim, Malcolm X, and others while
the punk riffs blend with horns. Another highlight is the rather mainstream
bubblegum pop of “Ellen’s Bi Coastal”. “Steve Baylor” has
to be one of the oddest, Zappa-like tracks of the year, and “Nipples” is
a modern day hit the Turtles failed to get around to."
THE VILLAGE VOICE - George Smith :
"An eight-person horn-fired local group making glorious hard pop!" “Hammering
punkarama, namechecking Saul Bellow, Philip K. Dick, and Jerry Lewis.” “Horns
and guitar drive a tank made of suntanned California riff right out of
the speakers.”
TROUSER PRESS- Founder Ira Robbins:
"...Sardonic adult humor in music is amply illustrated by this entertaining
New York octet (half of it being the Four Hornsmen, who add to, without ever
overwhelming, the simple rock music with brass). Delivered in Risa Mickenberg's
winning matter-of-fact voice, "Connecticut's for F*cking" is hysterical,
a deadly putdown of the Nutmeg State as a nadir of middle-class tedium that
proffers copulation as the only entertaining alternative. And "Vampire
Girls," which passingly sounds like the Replacements' "I Don't Know," explodes
the little-known problem of women "who seem like they're really cool until
you realize that everything that's cool about them is something they sucked
out of their ex-boyfriends" with a laundry list of modern-trendy
Henry Higgins acquisitions, from Balzac to Karen Black, Iggy Pop to Photoshop...
TUCSON WEEKLY- Linda Ray
""In a perfect world, this would be the Saturday Night Live house
band, and reason enough to start watching Saturday Night Live again…Very
smart, very fun, vodka gimlet-eyed music... If you read and loved A Confederacy
of Dunces or A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, this record is for
you. This is not loud, mad music, though, nor is it as frivolously confrontational
as the band name, or the equally stupid cover art. Rather, it's a collection
of intelligently observant and wryly amusing pop/rock/punk takes on gender
politics (read: sex and its complications), the state of the United States
(especially Connecticut) and certain everyday characters and their quirks.
All are set in fine musicianship, with Brian Wilson-worthy harmonies and imaginative
arrangements. (The timely entry of horns on "Do Me" made me laugh
out loud.) Lead singer Risa Mickenberg's voice is peculiar in a way that's
perfectly suited to the lyrics, all written by Mickenberg with guitarist/vocalist
Joel Shelton. Favorite track: "Vampire Girls"--fascinating
women who only know what ex-boyfriends taught them about."
HARP MAGAZINE: Chuck Eddy (Former Village Voice Music Editor)
"These brassy and Broadway-connected New Yorkers are as much 'cabaret'
as 'rock' but Risa Mickenberg has a voice both sweeter and sourer than 'cabaret'
implies. and a sense of humor too. "She's a Six" (math rock, or at
least decimal point rock, argues that if you want to be happy for the rest
of your life, never make a pretty woman your wife); "Nipples" (funnier
than the Holy Modal Rounders' "Boobs a Lot," and as great a song
about summer as it is a song about breasts); "Do Me" (about wanting
to have sex with a guy whose wife just died, like Michael Hurley and the Unholy
Modal Rounders' "Jeanlous Daddy's Death Song" only backwards): "Connecticut's
For F*cking"; "Vampire Girls"; "Ellen's Bicoastal." Plus "Crazy
Guy," a samba song that starts out as be-bop.”
THE BOSTON HERALD: "Hilarious!" "Deadpan!" "Love!" "Nervy
and mighty amusing!"
PHOENIX NEW TIMES: Pick Of The Week Nikki D'Andrea-
"Once you've heard "Connecticut's for Fucking," the leadoff
track to JHC&tFHotA's debut album, there's no denying this band's
snarky brilliance. The song's ridiculously catchy pop beat; dorky, nasal
punk vocals (courtesy of the surprisingly sexy Risa Mickenberg); and
lampooning of noodling '80s metal guitar solos is like a bubblegum enema
flushing pop punk out of mainstream music's bloated colon."
THE NEWS OBSERVER (Raleigh, Chapel Hill, NC)
“The comedy record of the year, with side-splitting musings on life,
love and the pursuit of happiness set to razor-sharp bar-band pop-rock. It's
smart, it's catchy, the music is great.” NEW YORK MAGAZINE: "Smart,
catchy power pop!" F5 WICHITA Tom Hull- : "Anyone who fondly remembers
the Waitresses will have a leg up on this smart, funny, and exuberantly horny
band. Not sure whether the difference is a generation of progress in spite
of backlash or just that lead singer Risa Mickenberg writes her own lines.
Her critique of "Vampire Girls" is spot on, like she's been
one and graduated to being interesting in her own right."
PITCHFORK
Delivering uneasy laughs at the expense of strip-mall culture alongside
power chords and pop hooks, "Connecticut's for Fucking", by the
New York outfit JHC&tFHotA could easily have been a hipster insider's
mean-spirited and elitist satire of yokel outsiders. Instead it comes across
as something much more complicated than simply making fun of people who
aren't from New York. Sounding a little like Amy Sedaris fronting Fountains
of Wayne, Risa Mickenberg (who's the Jesus H. Christ part of the name,
although there seem to be more than four others in the band, not all on
horns) sings from the perspective of one of many teenagers whose only pastime
in such a dull state is recreational sex. She delivers lines like "I
love to listen to classic rock and have sex with you" with a mix of
playfulness and resignation, and introduces a little gravity into the band's
humor: all those adolescents, she observes, are "waitin' to turn into
the people we are bound to turn into." There's a healthy dose of incisive
class commentary as well: "If we can't afford to buy antiques," she
sings, "then we just copulate." "Connecticut's for Fucking" sounds
more substantial than a novelty track, but with all the catchy fun that
label implies.
HARTFORD COURANT (COURANT.COM) –Eric Danton
"The lyrics and subject matter are off-kilter, but they're mostly smart
and, to my ears, pretty funny, and the musicians have serious chops. And, as
the band's name implies, there's plenty of dizzying horn work on the album,
mixed with pounding bass and snarling punk guitar riffs. (The album) also features
songs about anti-depressants, seducing the bereaved and psychic vampires: "Girls
who seem like they're really cool until you realize everything that's cool
about them is something they sucked out of their ex-boyfriends," be it
how to fix cars or appreciating the music of Syd Barrett.”
The News Observer(Raleigh, Chapel Hill, NC)
“The comedy record of the year, with side-splitting musings on
life, love and the pursuit of happiness set to razor-sharp bar-band pop-rock.
It's smart, it's catchy, the music is great.”
NEW YORK MAGAZINE: "Smart, catchy power pop!"
F5 WICHITA- Tom Hull
"Anyone who fondly remembers the Waitresses will have a leg up on this
smart, funny, and exuberantly horny band. Not sure whether the difference is
a generation of progress in spite of backlash or just that lead singer Risa
Mickenberg writes her own lines. Her critique of "Vampire Girls" is
spot on, like she's been one and graduated to being interesting in her own
right."
The Boston Globe: “The most raunchy fun!”
Don Wilding- The Cape Codder: "Like Zappa, they'll shock a certain
percentage of the population - and absolutely delight the rest of it."
TIME OUT NEW YORK: (STARRED REVIEW)
“Not just a carpenter and a compassionate religious icon, Jesus H Christ
is also a novelty-pop band fronted by the delightfully baby-voiced Risa
Mickenberg who sings in sugar-sweet tones about being courted by the crazy guy
down the street. Consider it the musical equivalent to Strangers With Candy.”
THE BOSTON METRO:
"Jesus H Christ and the Four Hornsmen of the Apocalypse are hilarious!"
THE BOSCH:
"It's time to open your hearts to Jesus. Jesus H Christ, the totally awesome
band...really does rock."
THE BOSTON PHOENIX:
"Amy Sedaris!" "Upscale!" "Sequined!" “Plenty
of laughs!” “Bald!”
I GUESS I’M FLOATING:
"The happy spirited band from New York take humorous, albeit true, lyrics
and weld them together with music that can only be classified as power pop.
With a lead singer that may remind some of an adolescent Jenny Lewis, the band
claim to be "bald, horny, thundering, glorious, deadly, lovable and sardonic!" The
eight-person ensemble sings about leaching shallow girlfriends, the snags
of living in Connecticut, synthetic feelings via prescription drugs,
and the sex drives of widowhood. Go on, start your weekend off with a
smile."
ELECTRIC TOMATOES.COM
“This is not your grandma and grandpa's apocalypse. It’s no fire
and brimstone, no seventh seal, no swaths of unholy agony punctuated by blessed
souls surfing pillars of light "up there." This is pure power-pop
apocalypse (say that five times fast, but we’re not accountable if you
pull a muscle in your tongue). Jesus H. Christ and the Four Hornsmen of the
Apocalypse write catchy, fun songs with plenty of trumpets. The most obvious
comparison they invite is to They Might Be Giants but they also make me think
of a Beulah and Nerf Herder hybrid running on unleaded petroleum goofiness.
The bands real strength is in their lyrics, which deal with topics you'd never
hear on the radio. (Though lets not forget trumpets, who doesn't love trumpets?) “Connecticut
Is for Fucking” is an anthem for people in Dullsville, Anywhere and “Nipples,” in
addition to being a great summery song, makes me think of the novelty classic “Boobs
a Lot.” Check out the band's MySpace, and at your earliest convenience,
start loving them.”
TIMES OF ACADIANA CHOICE CUTS
"Admittedly, Risa Mickenberg's and Joel Shelton's funny, sardonic, catchy
songs cover a narrow terrain -- call it the romantic complications of the Ritalin
generation, a demographic cut loose from traditional moorings and for whom
psychotropic opiates are the religion of the people -- but, Jesus H. Christ,
do they understand their characters! Whether speaking for or at beer-leech
women (Vampire Girls, Crazy Guy, Vicki Is a Pro) or a man who's lowering his
standards (She's a Six), Mickenberg/Shelton's lyrics are detailed enough for
accuracy while stopping just short of the "compassion fatigue" they
sympathize with in It's OK in the USA. Some Days is even sweet, with
the songs accompanied by brass suggesting musical affinities from three
or four decades before lyrics like these would've ever been imagined
let alone tolerated."
PAPER THIN WALLS
"You’ll be hearing (Connecticut's For F*cking) for the next 50 years
on various Demento and Son Of Demento compilations and podcasts; but not only
is it funny funny funny, the band takes care of the music, too: a great rattletrap
of a guitar doing fast Ramones chords and then laying a big wet tuneful Johnny
Thunders solo atop it all. Tracks.. twist the comedy from funniness to genuine
emotion and rage. Most moving is "Obviously," Risa bitching out a
lover—“You guys obviously slept together, not that I care; I mean,
I think she’s a skank; but whatever"—which leads to a general
smorgasbord of bitching: "Why do you have to drive like an asshole? You
have to drive, like, right up on the person in front of you’s ass; they
slam on their brakes, you’re dead!" She lets loose with the disappointment
and fury that’s the undertone of this humor, when life doesn't
live up to its billing."
SOME BLOG SOMEWHERE:
"The most delightfully salacious female vocalist since Sippie Wallace."
” THE CAPE CODDER- Don Wilder:
"Like Zappa, they'll shock a certain percentage of the population - and
absolutely delight the rest of it."
LEICESTERBANGS (U.K.):
"Like asparagus, olives, Zappa and cum, Jesus H Christ are an acquired
taste."
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