The Heavy Pets

Article and Photos by Skip Tapp

The Heavy Pets played to a nearly sold out crowd Saturday, May 8, at the Culture Room in Ft. Lauderdale, FL to launch their second studio album.

 The self titled album displays the bands musical diversity. The album contains good ‘ol rock-n-roll, some nice R&B, rock-n-rap, a little reggae and a mixture of all of the above.

 The band consists of guitarists, Jeff Lloyd and Mike Garulli,  Jim Wuest on keys  and the  rhythm section of  Jamie Newitt on drums and Justin Carney on bass .

 This is the bands second studio album, the first, Whale, was released in 2007. This project, the band made a concentrated effort on vocals and harmonies, and the work shows in the final product.

 The second track, “Girl You Make Me Stupid”, is an example of what I call rock-n-wrap. The tune also has a guest appearance from harmonica great John Popper. The third track, “How Would I”, is pure rock with a Beatle-esque souding break in the middle of the tune. The fourth track “Grace Blix”, is an R&B tune and if the chorus doesn’t get stuck in your head, then there is something wrong with you.

 One of my favorites is “Lazy Anna”, an acoustic rap with a Pink Floyd groove to it. The following track, “Spin’Round”, is a soulful rock tune with very smooth guitar work, a driving beat from the rhythm section, and a great arrangement of horns. Another favorite is track eight, “No More Time”, a rocking reggae tune that band is famous for, with fantastic vocal harmonies.

 So you take a great bunch of tunes from the album and get the live performance where the band can expand on them and do some great jamming and you have a show not to be missed. I would put the guitar duo of Mike Garulli and Jeff Lloyd up against any dual guitar band out there. If these guys are in your area do not miss them, they are definitely an up and coming force in the scene.

 Track List:

1. Drenched

2. Girl You Make Me Stupid

3. How Would I

4. Grac Blix

5. Jackie Bones

6. Lazy Anna

7. Spin ‘Round

8. No More Time

9. Osyrus

10. 70 Beats in the Lion’s Den

11. Xylophone

12. Ichabod’s Train

Tour Schedule:

June 22, 2010 :: Roxy’s — West Palm Beach, FL

June 25, 2010 :: Barnjam — Delray Beach, FL

June 26, 2010 :: Weston Town Center Summer Block Party — Weston, FL

July 2, 2010 :: Nateva Festival — Oxford, ME ::

July 3, 2010 :: Sterling Stage Kampitheatre — Sterling, NY

July 5, 2010 :: Nectars — Burlington, VT

July 7, 2010 :: Harpers Ferry — Boston, MA

July 8, 2010 :: Iron Horse Music Hall — Northampton, MA

July 9, 2010 :: Jillians — Albany, NY

July 8-11, 2010 :: All Good Music Festival — Masontown, West Virginia

July 21, 2010 :: El Alamo — Key West, FL

July 22, 2010 :: El Alamo — Key West, FL

July 23, 2010 :: Green Parrot — Key West, FL

July 24, 2010 :: Green Parrot — Key West, FL

July 29, 2010 :: Rock Island Brewery — Rock Island, IA

July 30, 2010 :: Cosmic Railroad Family Gathering at Camp Rotamer — Janesville, WI

Aug 6, 2010 :: PetZoo! 3 — Freehold, NJ

Aug 7, 2010 :: PetZoo! 3 — Freehold, NJ

September 10-11, 2010 :: Catskill Chill Music Festival — Hancock, NY

November 10-14, 2010 :: Bear Creek Art and Music Festival — Live Oak, FL