jammin' bands that are heavy and heavy bands that jam. Instead, it's playing Pirate's Cove, opening for local punk group Who Killed Marilyn. It's par for the course: Urchin's one of the best bands you've never heard, but it can't catch a break. Maybe it's because it runs with funny guys and hippies.
Urchin is Jack Black's favorite band -- he handpicked it to support Tenacious D. More recently, it opened for Ween side project Instant Death. Flaming Lips producer Keith Cleversly produced the band's long-shelved, newly released The Diamond, which was recorded for RCA shortly before the label and Urchin parted ways in 2001. The disc's title cut simulates Rush on an amphetamine-fueled descent into hardcore.
The rest bounces and thrashes from infectiously happy tracks like "Dracula Bite" to "The Jack-O-Lantern," an evocative four-four rocker that'll stick in your head for days. Played live, even near-ballads get fast and hard -- singer-drummer Tomato11 pounds up a froth and often rips his kit apart mid-set, sending entire pieces flying across the room without missing a beat or ending the song, screaming all the while.