The Axis of Awesome's US debut Animal Vehicle, out July 12, includes Youtube 20 million hits sensation 4 Chords
Tour dates continue
Buy CDs, MP3s, more:
Axis of Awesome on Amazon.co.uk
Axis of Awesome, the Australian comedy band that combines original songs and pop parodies, announce the release of their first U.S. album, Animal Vehicle, available through iTunes and Amazon on July 12, 2011.
The group has gained tremendous visibility with the Youtube sensation "4 Chords" that has garnered an astonishing 20+ million views to date, the highest rated comedy video in the history of humankind. The song is, inexplicably, included in the album.
The success of Axis of Awesome in their native country was underscored when they were named recipients of the Time Out Award for Best Australian Act at the Sydney Comedy Festival.
They won the prestigious Moosehead Award for their first ever Melbourne International Comedy Festival show which they dubbed "The Axis of Awesome Comeback Spectacular." They premiered their "Songs In The Key of Awesome" show at The Sydney Opera House and have become beloved, beyond all comprehension, in the UK and Sweden as well, of course, "Down Under."
They have taken it upon themselves to conquer the United States with both the release of Animal Vehicle and a string of US tour dates that began back in April of this year.
The band offered this official statement regarding their American anschulss: "We've karate chopped a man off a horse, eaten an entire beehive with Cher and saved the lives of numerous small animals/children from a ravenous troll/old woman but the opportunity to perform our comedy songs across the USA tops our list of achievements. We're so excited. We are, literally, fizzing at the bumble."
Axis of Awesome - "4 Chords" video:
The band includes Jordan Raskopoulos, a vocalist with both an impressive range and ponderous stage presence and is the creator of the one-man performance piece "The Adventures of the Man With the Dominant Claw". He is joined by Lee Naimo, the band's guitarist and, according to the band's official biography, he "enjoys sunshine and the music of Hannah Montana." The third member of the band is Benny Davis; he is a classically trained musician who plays keyboards and was, previously, a member of The Delusionists, a sketch comedy troupe of great renown.
Tracks on the new album by "The World's Most Awesomest Comedy Band" include "How To Write A Love Song" which, to some extent, takes up where "4 Chord Song" leaves off and provides the listener with a hilarious tutorial on how to format a generic, "shitty, shitty," love song with specific tips that related to the "industry standard" for such pop pabulum.
Another stand-out track among the album's total of 15 - not counting cleverly conceived medleys - is "Can You Hear The F***ing Music Coming Out of My Car?" An official video for the track was filmed in Los Angeles earlier this year and features the band members deporting themselves, as one would expect of a trio of Ed Hardy-clad cretins in a muscle car with a very powerful audio system.
Another Animal Vehicle highlight is "Birdplane," offered in both the original and Spanish versions (the latter under the title "El Pajaro Avion") that includes the lyric "see my feathers, hear my engines, my feet and my hydraulic suspensions.."
The album track "The Language of Love" is offered simultaneously in English and, of course, German while the title of "Harry Potter and the Drunk Teenage Animals Escaping From Zoos" is self-explanatory.
"How To Write A Love Song," "Can You Hear The F***ing Music Coming Out of My Car" and "Sexual Harassment," a romantic ditty about inappropriate behavior, are all available through iTunes in advance of the release of Animal Vehicle.
Animal Vehicle tracklist:
1. The Glorious Epic Of Three Men Who Are Awesome
2. How to Write A Love Song
3. Can You Hear The F***ing Music Coming Out of My Car?
4. Birdplane
5. When Life Is Good
6. The Language Of Love
7. Skeleton Man
8. Serious
9. Harry Potter And The Drunk Teenage Animals Escaping From The Zoo
10. Inspiration
11. WWJD?
12. Sexual Harassment
13. Song For the Elderly
14. 4 Chords
15. El Pajaro Avion
Axis of Awesome 2011 tour dates:
(Dates and information subject to change.)
June 2011
June 16,17,18,19 - The Laughing Skull Lounge, Atlanta, GA
June 22, 23, 24, 25 - Comedy Off Broadway, Lexington, KY
July 2011
July 12 - Largo at The Coronet, Los Angeles
(Album release celebration and performance)
July 15,16,17 - Laugh Out Loud, San Antonio, TX
August 2011
August 1 - 30 - Fringe Festival, Edinburgh, Scotland
September 2011
September 16 - Drew University, Madison, NJ
September 27 - George's Majestic Lounge, Fayetteville, AR
October 2011
October 14, 15 - Cap City Comedy Club, Austin, TX
October 21 - Turner Hall Ballroom, Milwaukee, WI
October 22 - Cinema Grill, New Hope, MN
October 27 - Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Buy CDs, MP3s, more:
Axis of Awesome on Amazon.co.uk
Visit axisofawesome.net and check out the band's awesome videos and more:
Axis of Awesome Official Website
Axis of Awesome Facebook
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