Mixing the stomp and swagger of a rock ‘n roll band with the danceable drama and rule-breaking spirit of pop music, Pet Fangs bridge the gap between old and new, raw and refined, organic and digital.
The band members call their sound “garage-pop,” pointing to a range of influences — from Prince to T Rex to Let’s Dance-era David Bowie — as wide and varied as the group’s own material. All four members of Pet Fangs hail from South Louisiana, where brothers Joe and David Stark first attracted an audience as co-founders of the swampy rock band Baby Bee. Signed to Republic Records, Baby Bee launched as a duo and steadily expanded into a larger lineup, with Jory Cordy and Ben Alleman joining the ranks. Cordy, Alleman, and the two Stark siblings were all songwriters and multi-instrumentalists in their own right, each having logged time in touring bands and as session musicians. Together, though, they were something more: a tight-knit, democratic unit of musicians whose new songs were bigger, bolder, and broader than anything they’d created before. Looking to move outside of the rules they’d placed upon themselves as a rock band, they dissolved Baby Bee and launched a new band. A band with bite. Pet Fangs was born.
From the start, Pet Fangs embraced change. The guys switched instruments often. They switched recording studios, too, looking to chase down different sounds in a string of ever-changing environments. In doing so, they approached their new music like a rock group. They focused on hooks, grooves, and riffs, playing organic instruments along the way. Then, once the basic blueprint for each track had been laid, they abandoned the rule book altogether. Real instruments were sonically manipulated. Live drums were joined by programmed loops. Synthesizers and vocal effects were added to the mix. It was a no-limits approach to pop music, blending the influence of older decades with current sounds and rules-free experimentation. Joining them throughout the studio process was producer, engineer, and honorary “ghost member,” Justin Tocket, who manned the recording console and collaborated on new material during its earliest stages.
Pet Fangs’ music represents something new. It’s equal parts attitude, atmosphere, and adventurousness, glued together by four songwriters whose rock ‘n roll pedigree lends edge and electricity to their spacey pop music.
In August, the band released their full-length album Ultra Deluxe. Today Glide is excited to premiere the music video for “Problemz”, one of the standout tracks on the album. With brooding electropop as the soundtrack, the video features the band in a bizarre workout routine while doing other delightfully strange activities. Mixing funky grooves, electronic dance music, and spicy guitar licks with infectious, anthemic lyrics, the song is a lively party tune well-suited for the club.
Joe Stark shares of “Problemz,” “We wrote ‘Problemz’ on the back porch of my house in Louisiana. My brother Dave was playing a bass line and we were all just sitting around drinking cervezas. I was thinking about my girl asking me the week before if I thought she had a problem because she wanted to drink wine on nights after work. Of course I said ‘absolutely not’ and lyrically, I just kind of went off the deep end with that idea. I do believe in moderation of substance but to be quite honest, it’s also good to have some safe fun!”
In talking about the idea for the video, he says, “We had a blast making this video for ‘Problemz.’ As with all of our videos, Jory directed it and our best bud, Bruno Doria handled the cinematography and editing. We spent the whole night before painting Bruno’s studio the blue checkered pattern. The vibe is something like ‘if they locked us all away in one prison cell for life what would that look like’… My favorite part of making this video was seeing Jory gagging and trying not to puke while we put sushi on Ben’s chest and soy sauce in his belly button.”
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