Event

The DEFIBULATORS

Described alternately as "Hee-Haw on mescaline" and "CBGB-meets-Grand Ole Opry," The Defibulators are first-and-foremost a live band, and their boundless energy and infectious sense of joy onstage have quickly earned them a devoted following in a city not known for its love of country music . Through four years of relentless touring since the release of their "Carter Family-meets-Ramones" (AMG) debut, 'Corn Money,' the band's sound has evolved and their songwriting matured, but it still took a supreme effort to walk away from the stage. "We get carried away with playing live and we want to just keep going," says singer Erin Bru. "We really had to force ourselves to stop and record."

The wait was well worth it. Recorded in Woodstock, NY, at The Isokon with D. James Goodwin and Eli Walker, and Sunset Park, Brooklyn, at Motherbrain with co-producer Brian Bender (Langhorne Slim, Jose James), 'Debt'll Get'em' is a 10-track, au courant, urban take on classic country. The record channels the frenetic energy of their legendary live shows into tight, punchy hooks and foot-stomping sing-alongs. From "Pay For That Money," a pedal steel and fiddle lament about debt, to "Ponytail Run," a dreamy ode to beauty just out of reach, the album is a modern and wide-ranging urban take on classic country, full of gorgeous harmonies and razor-sharp wit. "Everybody's Got a Banjo" is a biting, 70s swamp funk-inspired nod to the instrument's recent ubiquity ("If you don't know how to play it, well it still looks cool"), and "Cackalacky" is the tongue-in-cheek story of an Appalachian musician who moves to New York City to make it big in roots music. Strange as that idea might sound, it's not too far from the truth for The Defibulators."