Thirteen Picks - Lucky Boys Confusion

With the sad news of guitarist Joe Sell's passing this week, we wanted to take a moment to celebrate his life as a musician and share what we consider to be Lucky Boys Confusion's finest musical moments. If you have somehow missed out on this brilliant local pop-punk meets reggae outfit, these tracks should break you into what you have been missing nicely. As amazing as their ferocious cover of Dramarama's "Anything, Anything" is, we are sticking with originals for our Thirteen Picks piece, leaving room for one more LBC written gem where they might have been. Although "Dumb Pop Song" got the band their first radio play, it is far from the best they have to offer.

Here is our alphabetical list of a baker's dozen worth of LBC's best songs. Thanks for all the amazing shows over the years, Joe.

Arizona Stand
Much of the band's best work from their indie debut, Growing Out Of It, eventually got re-recorded and became part of their major label efforts, but this fan-favorite never did. The ragged freewheeling riffs and solid hook made this a concert staple.

 

Atari
The rusted riffs shooting through the start of the song quickly ratchet into sunny, summer-ready chugging guitar and a fun-loving slacker hook as poppy and catchy as it is silly, "I don't want to say I'm sorry / I just want to drink beer and play Atari". Right on, Stubhy.

 

Cigarettes
The cool flicker of guitars bide their time at the start, waiting to erupt in the punchy, addictive hook. Their knack for solid relationship tunes comes through loud and clear here. The swaggering, energetic song is as infectious as anything the band has written.

 

City Lights
They might have re-recorded this with better production quality for their fantastic major-label debut, but we far prefer the rawness of the version recorded for Soapbox Spectacle. The blend of shooting horns and dub riffs sound fantastic as Stubhy sings of returning home.

 

Fred Astaire
A song so nice, they recorded it thrice. With guitars ablaze like combatants in a knife fight, the aggressive thrust of the band and one of the best hooks the band has written makes for pop-punk magic. Stubhy's vocals push through the guitars with a full head of steam, with the downhill thrust of the band works well to tell the tale of overbearing pressure on youth. There is no 'wrong' version of this one, but we lean towards the more polished take for this one.

Medicine And Gasoline
The second definite standout from their sophomore Electra album rides a sprinting beat and delivers perhaps the most beer-commercial-ready, raise-your-drinks hook the band has to offer. How this was never picked to back a Miller Lite commerical is beyond us. The guitars nimbly flickering around each other, when not in full on pop-punk chug, are fantastic here to boot.

Not About Debra
Showcasing the band's flair for reggae dipped pop and their ability to weave a strong narrative through their songwriting, helping a friend deal with an unhealthy relationship, the colorful blend of stabbing dub riffs and delicious lead guitar slathering through is sonically reminiscent of Elvis Costello's "Watching The Detectives" in the verses. It is the ying-yang approach of mellow, longing verses and the fiery, biter hook that makes this one stick. The more raw samba and horn breakdown and more emotional vocals on The Soapbox Spectacle make it our verision of choice.

One To The Right
The blend of tumbling drums and a thicker swath of guitar and the snarling vocals add up to one of the band's hardest rocking songs, struggling with growing up. Originally recorded solidly for Growing Out Of It, where the album draws its name, the muscled-up take here is a vast improvement.

Slip
The cool acoustic intro bleeds into a full-on rock assault. The steady churn of the riffs and empowering call to make the most of your opportunities is one of the best moments on an album full of great ones.

 

The Struggle (Getting Out Alive)
One of the best tracks the band has offered since being unjustly booted from Electra, the shaggy acoustic, rumbling bass groove, and tumbling drums in the crystalline verses erupt into a runaway melody in the hook, showing off their strengths as a rock band. The full band on backing vocals near the end, begging crowd participation live, sound great.

When The Bad Gets Worse
The shimmering riffs and jogging beat over Stubhy's melodic, reminiscing vocals come together for something really great on their excellent comeback EP. There is a looser, more unpolished version on their collection of b-sides and demos, Closing Aruments, that offers a cool early look at the track, but we prefer the more guitar-centric thrust offered here.

3 To 10
A concert staple with good reason, this hard-charging punk-rap tune finds Adam Krier sharing vocal duties with Stubhy amidst a rubbery bass groove and thrashing guitars. The party-loving vibe of the song and their willingness to play it as hard as possible live, leading to a fun call-and-response section with concertgoers, make this a must-hear live. To their credit, the band do a great job capturing the frenetic energy of the live winner in the studio for the album.

40/80
The fiery solo from Joe Sell feels like the cherry on top of this dub kissed gem. The traffic stop rocker shows off the band's ability to blend humor into their lyrics with a handsy cop, called out by name, while also offering a protest against 'probable cause' law in an anthemic hook.