Dad Is Bad

Budokan Boys is the brainchild of Vienna-based composer Jeff T Byrd and New Orleans-based writer Michael Jeffrey Lee, and is proof that not all long-distance relationships are unhealthy. The duo formed in New Orleans in 2012 to play a single show, which they had little time to write and rehearse for. No matter: what they created was an intense, uncompromising set, which featured Byrd’s synth and saxophone loops and Lee’s bizarre, heavily treated vocals. Following their debut album, That’s How You Become A Clown, released last fall by Tymbal Tapes, Byrd and Lee spent two happy weeks in the southwest, and in between mineral soaks in Truth or Consequences, wild nights in Juarez, and bouts of crippling anxiety, they created DAD IS BAD, their new album, is out now on Baba Vanga. An eclectic, caustic collection, DAD IS BAD sees the boys ditching their usual slapdash songwriting approach to deliver eight tight, devious tunes. Byrd’s lurid, galvanizing compositions--equally the result of session improv and careful post production--move nimbly between no-wave, dad-rock, hip-hop, r&b, spoken word, and psych-folk, while Lee screeches and croons his way through a series of acerbic folktales and bonkers (but psychologically astute) monologues. Populated by lonely bots, bemused prisoners, slippery southerners, and internet trolls with hearts of gold, among other pariahs, DAD IS BAD is hellish, funny, and, in places, horribly moving. Call it crumbling world music.

Any review of the Budokan Boys really requires a bit of backstory, because they can hardly be accused of being a traditionally formed band.