KRUM BUMS were formed in early 2000 by lead singer Dave Tejas and guitarist Trae Martinez in Austin, Texas the breeding ground of bands like: MDC, Big Boys, DRI, Butthole Surfers and Lower Class Brats. During the years the band has gone through many incarnations before arriving at their current line-up. While this revolving cast of characters could be disheartening to lesser bands, the creative core of Tejas and Martinez has always remained intact. They never viewed adversity as an impediment to their creativity, Tejas explains, but rather an opportunity waiting to be exploited. "The core of the KRUM BUMS sound has always stayed the same, but each new face has brought a new energy to the band". "Cut The Noose" is the first of their recordings that begins to capture their true ferocity.
Produced by Jason Buntz, "Cut the Noose" harnesses the raw, untamed energy of KRUM BUMS, with Buntz functioning as the key ingredient around which the songs coalesced. "He really gets the sound of KRUM BUMS, and believes in us. He had a major part in pushing us during recording", Martinez says of the band's long-standing relationship with Buntz.
It is the individual tastes of the five members however - bassist Ry Meyer, guitarist Justin Hall and drummer Nick Kasten (who replaces original sticksman Tommy Gonzalez) - that truly expanded the KRUM BUMS sound. The album runs the sonic gamut, from the pure punk snarl of "Action City" to the thrash-like "Starving Wolves", the latter which is a particularly personal track on the album. "At the time we wrote it, it seemed as though there were so many obstacles in our path, yet there was nothing that was going to stop us. Every day was a war we had to win," comments Martinez.
War, however, is something the band was well prepared for. Having honed their road skills touring the US and Europe with talents like The Casualties, Street Dogs, Swingin' Utters, GBH, even reformed LA legends The Germs, the band is 100% gun blazing, a dazzling display of barely-contained chaos. Night after night, they attack their instruments as if it's the last time they'll ever play. Frontman Tejas is a showman of the highest standard. Part circus ringmaster, part spider monkey, if there's a stack of PA's on stage, Tejas is going to climb them. If there's a reachable crossbeam overhead, count on him to be hanging from it at some point in the show, always ending up in the waiting arms of the crowd.
As for all the years and the beers, the broken down vans and busted-up relationships, all of it has contributed to make KRUM BUMS the force they are today. Their anger and frustration is almost palpable in the music they make, their passion practically bleeding forth from the speakers. KRUM BUMS have taken all of their hardship and pain and thrown it unflinchingly into "Cut the Noose". Always a live force to be reckoned with, "Cut the Noose" finds the band refining their sound, defying expectations and redefining what punkrock is all about.
Track listing
1. Population Control
2. Action City
3. Poison Myself
4. Gasoline
5. Hit And Run
6. Last To Go
7. Starving Wolves
8. Gallows
9. Cut The Noose
10. Get Away
11. Injection
12. Gone Forever
13. High Highs, Low Lows
14. Blast The Walls