"Thrice the rocking power of other name bands." Heavily influenced by old school rock'n'roll, this studio album captures the energy of Cactus Joe and his band's live show. Check it out. Better yet, come to a show.

11 MP3 Songs
ROCK: College Rock, ROCK: Pub Rock

Show all album songs: Inspirado Songs


Details:
When Cactus Joe and his loyal sidekick and drummer MG found themselves lacking a functional band in early 2007, they decided to make good use of their usual Monday night practice time, rather than squandering it on booze and women.

So they diligently set about laying down "live" drum and instrument tracks in Joeâs studio each week. And before they knew it, they had an albumâs worth of new songs. So they produced it and threw this CD together just in time for X-mas.

Cactus Joe is a singer/songwriter from the Madison, Wisconsin area who also fronts for indy garage fun rock band The Guppy Effect (www.guppyeffect.info).

Cactus Joe rocks for smart people who love good high energy rock'n'roll like they had in the olden days. He wants to bring back the simple distilled essence of primal fun rocking that existed before the exploitation of the rock'n'roll medium for corporate gain (was there such a time?). "Inspirado" is the fruit of his sweaty, but otherwise relatively straightforward, effort. This is the people's music, and Cactus Joe will never sell out (CJ: "I promise..."). There are no gimmicks here. Just wholesome rocking. All the music is human-made on real instruments pushed to their physical limits.

Cactus Joe has been playing music for over 25 years, and he makes all his music income off entertaining live shows and the sale of CDs and goodies. His music is satyrical, with elements of revolutionary shock rock from the 60s and 70s, along with modern day hooks and themes.

His songs are about a variety of topics, politics, relationships, "The Man," etc. He adeptly contrasts lyrics and music to create thought provoking and entertaining energetic rocking. He uses over the top promotional slogans to gently mock mainstream corporate music marketing. Examples: "Thrice the rocking power of other name bands" and "SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: This music has been shown to cause cigarette smoking in adolescent lab rats." His music is intended for live bar and college crowds, but the songs work just as well for dancing to in your living room. Weddings? Maybe not.

Cactus Joeâs influences include, but are not limited to, Black Sabbath, Medeski Martin and Wood, Kings of Leon, Iggy Pop and the Stooges, The Beatles, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Blondie, Culture, The Doors, Talking Heads, They Might Be Giants, The Ramones, Jefferson Airplane, Motorhead, and other good stuff.

Cactus Joe likes making music that makes people think. Thought is not for everyone. But Cactus Joe's music isn't for dummies.

Cactus Joe would like to thank the following collaborators: MG Sherry (drums and constructive critique), Branden McCready (lyrics and laughs), Wes Columbia (guitar shredfests and quality control), Claire O'Leary (lyrics and "inspirado"), and the Dudleys (hospitality and pizza). Also everyone who supported him and his crazy schemes.