Quest for Fire

Today, we present our penultimate alphabetical roundup of the CMJ Music Marathon, brought to you by the letters P through T. For more new music, check out Part 1 (A-E), Part 2 (F-J), and Part 3 (K-O). And tune back tomorrow for six new bands, from Unicycle Loves You through Zowie.

That's Why They Call Him 'Poofy'

Poofy and the Bus Boys (New York) – “Sunshine”

This band won our hearts when we compiled the 2010 CMJ Band Name Awards. As it turns out, their music is tougher than their name implies. Poofy and the Bus Boys play a fusion of hip-hop and rock in which the poofy-haired singer spits rhymes over funky grooves. The band acknowledges its debt to George Clinton and Parliament by quoting the chorus of “Give Up The Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker).” Apparently, they want the funk.

Quest For Fire (Toronto) – “I’ve Been Trying to Leave“

“Quest for Fire” was a 1983 Iron Maiden song, which was based on the 1981 French film, La Guerre de Feu, which was based on a 1909 novel by Belgian writer J.-H. Rosny aîné, a founding father of science fiction, about Paleolithic man’s struggle to tame fire. Ontario’s own Quest For Fire takes up the torch, making epic guitar rock in the vein of Black Sabbath and Metallica, while Dusty Sparkles sings with a rasp that sounds like the reincarnation of Kurt Cobain.

Royal Thunder (Atlanta) -”Mouth of Fire”

Power trio Royal Thunder distills four decades of blues rock: from Led Zeppelin to Jack White’s band du jour, The Dead Weather. On “Mouth of Fire” bassist and lead vocalist Mlny Parsonz growls over a classic rock guitar part that sounds a bit like the riff from ZZ Top’s “Tush.”

Sun Airway (Philadelphia) – “Put the Days Away”

As Frontier Psychiatrist fans know, we like bikes. So we were hooked by the video for Sun Airway’s “Put the Days Away,” which stars a female urban cyclist.  We also dig the music:  a swooping soundscape of keyboards and talky vocals that sound a bit like Julian Casablancas of the Strokes. Check back on Monday for a review of Sun Airway’s debut album, Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier.

Teenage Bottlerocket (Wyoming) – “Skate or Die”

If the band name Teenage Bottlerocket sounds like a throwback to adolescence in the 1980s, then wait until you hear their song “Skate or Die.” These boys from Laramie, Wyoming play singalong punk-pop, the kind that put Green Day’s American Idiot on Broadway. Clearly, Teenage Bottlerocket has a sense of humor. “Bigger Than Kiss,” mockingly declares the band’s greatness and name checks Kiss band members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. Add that to a cartoon video that recalls the Adult Swim show Metalocalypse and the joke is complete.

Keith Meatto is co-editor of Frontier Psychiatrist. He recently wrote the first installment of CMJ from A-Z and the 2010 CMJ Band Name Awards.