Stoley P.T.
Lesson #1
In Music We Trust
Stoley P.T. is one of the only bands that I know where their background is more entertaining than their music. Now I won’t get stupid; Lesson #1 is a funky, hard-nosed, rocker, approximating what it would sound like if The Pixies and Pavement had a kid, but once you hear the background, Stoley P.T. becomes even better. The frontman and mastermind behind the band is a guy only known as Stoley who used to front The Lupins (best known as that one band who sang that one song on the Dumb & Dumber soundtrack). Once their label dumped The Lupins, they disbanded. Typical story, right? Now enter Joe’s Apartment. Yep, the MTV movie with Jerry O’Connell. MTV had a contest where someone won an apartment in NYC for a year rent-free. How does this factor in? That’s how Stoley moved from Chicago to NYC. He won the contest. As he went looking for jobs he ended up landing a spot on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” as, among other characters, a gun-toting, NASCAR-driving Jesus. When he wasn’t working with Conan, he was writing songs and performing them to an ever-increasing audience all around the Big Apple. But he wanted a band, so he recruited Berklee College of Music graduate Rob Draghi on drums and Mark Turrigiano on bass (who was replaced after recording the album by Malaysian-born Janine Yoong). Since then the trio has been touring behind Lesson #1. As for the album itself, it’s not as interesting as the story you’ve just read. It’s intense, in-your-face indie rock that makes the listener feel joyous in his/her collective hopelessness. What exactly does that mean? It means if you are an indie geek with a penchant for a “Cat Bong” you’ve just found your new favorite group. If not, then take a listen anyway and find out why In Music We Trust is one of the best music labels on the planet.
In Music We Trust: http://wwwinmusicwetrust.com
