St. Paul's Shelby Tigers playing, rocking out and serious about it

by THE KING OF ROCK
columnist

Full-body, one piece, polyester jumpsuits; blonde beehive wigs; maniacally thin mustaches; faux parakeets in place of parrots, and most importantly ... fun.

The Selby Tigers hail from St. Paul, Minnesota, where they've been brewing their brand of punk for the last few years. I saw them in Washington D.C. as part of the Plea For Peace tour, a package tour with about ten bands including Hot Water Music and Alkaline Trio, all put together by Mike, the founder of Asian Man Records.

They stormed the stage like kids late for a dance and clutching their guitars as party favors. Having a blast seems to be the first order of business and they waste no time shaking it up with their very catchy popish punk. Sammy is the commander of crowd comments, crackin' wise for all the kids, and if you weren't laughin', you were at the wrong show.

Arzu was all dolled up with a bee-hive Laverne would have been proud of, and Nathan was a silly sailor gone good with a parakeet at attention on his shoulder in lieu of a parrot. Sammy was some sort of jumpsuited bass import, whose mustache was nothing short of amazing. Dave the drummer had no wild costume to speak of, but made up for it with his passionate playing and singing. Have I mentioned how fun this show was?

It would be a terrible mistake to chalk this band up to goofy, gimicky and silly show banter period. The next thing that I immediately noticed was the sincerity with which these Minnesotans played. Their songs are given in a fun and lightweight delivery, but the delivery is not lacking sincerity or conviction. The Selby Tigers mean it.

With a wink and nod to the B-52's and the Rezillos, the Selby Tigers' sound has a firm foot in punk rock, while they write creative and catchy tunes with interesting song structures and subject matter, meshing rock and new wave into a sensible social commentary without forgetting the fun. Their album Charm City is out now on Hopeless. Get it.

The King of Rock can be reached for comment at parthenon@marshall.edu.