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Happy Casualties

by John Ross

It's a bit of a miracle, really, the success of Hugs & Kisses.

Three guys who dress in superhero costumes and animal masks and then take the stage, lip-synching to recorded music. Songs about love and heartache and extensive drug use. Musicians who cite as influences Huey Lewis & the News, Jodeci, Marvel Comics, doo-wop and the Muppets. A debut record with songs such as "Totally Awesome Part 3."

This stuff just shouldn't work.

In part because it confounds nearly all reason, the band's self-described "R-rated children's music for an adult" has become some of the most interesting in the city. And Saturday they'll release an album that will remind you how mind-blowing music can be.

"Point blank, it's genuine. These guys aren't trying to be weird—they're just trying to get the point across," said Ron Barker, cofounder of Manup Music, which released the album. "I'm pretty sure that if these dudes sat down in a room for a month, they'd come up with seven albums."

The first, The Casualties of Happiness, is 20 songs that condense the confrontational nature of the live performances—closer to avant-garde theater than a rock concert—and encapsulate twisted and ruthlessly entertaining biography.

"The songs come first; then we build the show around the songs," explained Donny Monaco. "We could form a band, but you can't tell a story with a band."

The stories told by Monaco, Jacoti Sommes and Phonzie Davis deal with life's complexities and contradictions, its dizzying peaks and valleys: new romance and broken hearts; narcotics and hangovers; that first cigarette of a pack and the last.

What: Hugs & Kisses

When: Saturday, February 17

Where: Carabar, Olde Towne East

Web: manupmusic.com

"We don't compartmentalize things," Davis said. "As a kid, I used to switch between G-rated cartoons and X-rated BET, going from 'Eek the Cat' to R. Kelly. We throw all that together, and our music is really reflective of that."

This isn't a juvenile record, though it's filled with childish wonder. The depth comes not from any one lyric but from an awareness of the ultimate casualty of happiness: that inevitable, crushing downside to our basic desire for excess and experience.

As Monaco croons on the title track, "You'll never be free without sheddin' some blood."

"The Casualties of Happiness" is different from everything else on the record, which alternates between a bare but melodic doo-wop circus and computerized sound sketches. Its many layers, standout vocals and acoustic guitar riff are among the more accomplished.

And it stands as the best argument that life—even at its lowest, its weirdest, its most frightening—is to be cherished.

"It's great when we're performing and we hear at least one belly laugh," Sommes said. "We want to touch people—either appropriately or inappropriately."

February 15th, 2007