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Comedy and 'Tragedy'
[Publicity photo]
Nik Sharp, second from left, and the other members of Suburban Tragedy beat out more than 200 bands to be one of four finalists to perform at WSUN-FM 97.1’s One Crazy Summer Show. |
By GINA VIVINETTO, Times Pop Music Critic
© St. Petersburg Times
published September 19, 2002
In the tub or on the record, Suburban Tragedy is good, clean fun, as is its debut CD.
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Nik Sharp is ready for rock stardom. The 23-year-old singer-guitarist of the Pinellas County alt-rock band Suburban Tragedy calls from the bathtub of his Palm Harbor home.
"I've got a rubber ducky and everything," says Sharp, laughing.
Sharp and his bandmates recently beat out more than 200 bands to be one of four finalists to perform at WSUN-FM 97.1's One Crazy Summer Show. Now the band is gearing up for Friday's CD release party at Neptune Lounge for Fun For the Kids, its 12-song debut. The quartet has attracted a sizeable local following since its inception in December 2000. With the strong street buzz and an album filled with the bright, radio-ready punky pop found in acts such as Blink-182 and Jimmy Eat World, Sharp hopes the band will attract national attention.
The disc's secret ingredient: fun. Suburban Tragedy just may be the first nonmopey Florida rock band to make it big. Sharp says he's grown tired of bands such as Creed and Third Eye Blind constantly complaining about their lives.
Sharp shares songwriting with guitarist Jon Stride. (The band also includes Paul Calvagna on bass and Eric Bice on drums). Sharp is in charge of the lyrics, which are wry and simple. Mostly, Sharp says, the songs are about girls.
"That's the basics of rock 'n' roll," he says. "These are the topics that will never go away. Boys like girls. Girls like guys." Sharp pauses. "Girls lie. Girls hurt us and make us suffer."
A self-proclaimed pop-culture junkie, Sharp blasts all those mopey bands on the song Dead Elvises, even tagging on a hilarious parody of moan-and-drone singing at the end. Around The Town's pummeling rhythms and crunch guitar are lightened up by delightfully zippy keyboards. Shake Your Booty is just as kitschy and cavalier. Sharp jokes on one song that adult life is as silly as high school, suggesting he's now in 13th grade.
"I'm a fun person," Sharp says, splashing in the tub. "We're a fun band. Music can get so depressing. We'll never be like that." He says the band doesn't look at life too seriously. Except, he jokes, when it comes to cleanliness.
"Personal hygiene," Sharp says, "is very, very important to Suburban Tragedy." Tools of the trade? Bath & Body Works Sun Ripened Raspberry. Which is?
"A refreshing shower gel."
Suburban Tragedy's Web site is www.suburbantragedy.com. (Fun For the Kids is available at Best Buy, FYE and Music Exchange.)
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PREVIEW: Suburban Tragedy performs at a CD release party at 10 p.m. Friday at Neptune Lounge, 13 S Safford Ave., Tarpon Springs. (727) 943-5713.
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