Farrelly Brothers find Unbusted picture-perfect
When you hear that the Farrelly Brothers have put three songs from an unknown Martha's Vineyard band called the Unbusted in one their movies, you wonder if one of the Farrellys, Peter or Bobby, lost a bet on the golf course and were obligated to put some local band on the soundtrack. It could happen -- the Farrellys make a lot of crazy wagers out there on the course.
But the Unbusted, Vineyard-born in 1997 but based in Boston since 2002, came to the Farrellys via Vineyard producer Danny Kortchmar, who made his name in the soft-rock realm. This was quite a shift for Kortchmar. He had produced a bristling, five-song demo tape for the Unbusted, passed it to summer resident Peter Farrelly, and behold, "Seeds to Sew," "Another Wasted Weekend," and "I Don't Want to Grow Up" made the cut.
"I Don't Want to Grow Up" sounds a bit like the Ramones' version of the Tom Waits song of virtually the same name, but when that thought was voiced to singer-guitarist Joe Keefe, he was dismayed -- he had never heard of it. (The movie, "Stuck on You," is set for release on DVD on April 27.)
"We've tried to not brag about it too much," Keefe says. "In some cases, people don't know or realize we've done it. We're just glad someone cared at some point. It's good to have on your resume. But we're not all of a sudden Hollywood people. We don't have anyone to release our record."
That could change soon. The Unbusted is making its presence known. The band played an ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) showcase at the Middle East this past Tuesday, and they recently played on the monthly Paradise Lounge show put together by Mark Kates, owner of the increasingly prominent Boston label Fenway Recordings. Recording in the studio starts April 23. They'll play again May 14 at the Middle East Upstairs.
"Juliana Hatfield sent me some of their songs last summer," Kates says. "I thought there was something there, but it wasn't til their next demo that I got around Thanksgiving where I heard some great songs. I saw them over the winter and was really impressed. They've got a great frontman, good dynamics. They're a rabid rock 'n' roll band that may or may not have figured it out yet, and that's part of their charm."
Hatfield had heard them on the Vineyard and was impressed "by the whole package. Great songwriting. I was just excited that there was something in my town that made me feel excited. That hadn't happened in a long time. Joe was so charismatic."
She took the Unbusted on tour with the group she played in with Heidi Gluck and Freda Love last fall, Some Girls. (Hatfield and Keefe are now dating.) The Unbusted have an appeal not unlike the Strokes: brash, melodic, rebellious, catchy. Keefe and his pals formed the band as students at Martha's Vineyard Regional High School. Bassist Ben Smith and guitarist Jack Sandland were part of the original core; drummer Willy Bailey took over that seat in 2002, and longtime friend Tim Laursen, joined just as the band moved to Boston. They made a decision to pursue the rock dream instead of going to college, Keefe says.
He adds that the band's Vineyard roots give them the feeling "of a group of outsiders who have their own thing going on." Still, this is a scene the Unbusted want to be part of, he says. "I don't know that much about Boston but, there are great bands. And it's an awesome time to be in a rock band."
