Musical Mayhem

June 27, 1997

The Junkyard may never be the same after Wednesday, July 2. That's when its stage will be invaded by Ratso Rizzo, a band proudly billing itself as "hillbilly, gothic honky-tonk from hell." The opening act will be Dead Cat Bounce, a band composed of "twisted" stockbrokers, according to a member of Ratso. This melange of musical mayhem, starting at 9:30 p.m., is being sponsored in a fit of maniacal masochism by The Slant and The Orlando Reporter, a local leftist e-zine. (The Junkyard is located at 1455 S.R. 436, in Butler Plaza, Casselberry; for more info, call 678-9273; the cost is $5 at the door.)

In an effort to enlighten the masses (and move my name up a few notches on the liver transplant list), I recently interviewed Ratso Rizzo at a local watering hole. What follows is based upon the few shards of the interview I was able to dredge up from the wreckage of my memory. (Unfortunately, I had damaged my tape recorder beyond repair by dropping it on the floor in a drunken stupor.)

Bassist and band spokesman Gary Hicks describes Ratso's sound as "comparable to the Sex Pistols hurling a wrecking ball through the Grand Ol' Opry. We wreak havoc and leave the stunned, the stupified and the stammering in our wake."

"We do this by offering a combination of liquored-up originals ('Hoedown at the Whorehouse' and 'Crazy Girl') and scorching covers, ranging from Duke Ellington (an original arrangement of his classic 'Don't Get Around Much Anymore') to the Ramones, all served up with a side of humor."

"We're never accused of taking ourselves too seriously, and, in fact, the band tends to shoot straight from the hip; you can never be sure of what's coming next," Gary says.

Guitarist and vocalist Kevin Wolfe "is the driving force behind the band - in between stints at the Betty Ford Clinic," Gary notes ruefully. In the same vein, the bassist describes himself as "a power drinker and Jagermeister spokesman" - that is when he's not holding down the bottom for Ratso.

Says Kevin of his musical relationship with Gary: "We both like the same thing - energy and volume. I think energy plus volume equals Ratso Rizzo." As for drummer Jim Cardoza, he "beats the skins like the LAPD beats motorists," Gary says.

Having seen Ratso Rizzo (named after Dustin Hoffman's character in Midnight Cowboy) live many times I can attest to the veracity of that last statement. Indeed, the combination of frontman Wolfe with rhythm-meisters Hicks and Cardoza makes the band equally adept at multiple genres - honky-tonk twang, funk and straight-ahead rock 'n' roll. It's also why Ratso, which formed just a year ago, can plow through its set lists with a reckless abandon not seen since director Tobe Hooper unleashed Leatherface in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

The band's influences are diverse and include, but definitely aren't limited to, the Beatles, Buck Owens, Kiss, Hank Williams Sr., Cheap Trick and Jason and the Scorchers, to name just a few. Gary isn't exaggerating when he states that Ratso Rizzo "paints its musical canvas with broad strokes."

The band's credo? It's simple: "Any bottle worth opening is worth finishing." Words to live by, and they do - while creating a buzz on the local music scene.

So come out to the Junkyard, and get buzzed with Ratso Rizzo as these hard-drinkin', hardcore honkytonk heroes preach to you the gospel of Dash Rip Rock with the moral fiber of Jimmy Swaggart.

Ben Markeson
I'm a first-generation Floridian, a second-generation American, a college drop-out and have a strong anti-authoritarian, anti-corporate bent. I edited and published two local "alternative" newspapers - The Orlando Collegian and The Orlando Spectator (three if you count The Orlando Reporter, which had one paper issue before becoming an e-zine), and also free-lanced for The Orlando Weekly. But I don't call myself a journalist because that sounds pretentious.