Happy Blast!

The Vice And Virtue Ministry by The Happy Bullets

Factured pop straight out of Texas, with a crazy, layered, and at times symphonic sound. The band's sound is fat with guitars that squeal and twang, great singsong-y vocals by everyone in the band, blasts of horns, various stringed instruments, and a sense of fun that's missing from a lof of indie rock. Their sound isn't too distant from some of the other big-sounding, quirky bands, like Arcade Fire (and to some extent Polyphonic Spree), and its just begging to be put in a commercial for something cool, like a hybrid car.

Happy Bullets is Jason Roberts (vocals, guitar, piano, synths, farfisa, mellotron, banjo), his wife Andrea Roberts (vocals, bass), Tim Ruble (vocals, guitar, keyboard, trumpet, trombone), Josh McKibben (guitar, vocals, trumpet, whistling), and Rhett Jones (Drums, percussion, vocals).

The band formed in 2003 after Jason met Tim while working at an art gallery in Dallas - the two spent time writing and recording songs together, then after gaining an audience via local radio play, they decided to start playing shows, enlisting Andrea and teaching her to play bass in a month. Since then, they've shared the stage with other weirdo indie bands including Mates of State, Holly Golightly, Architecture in Helsinki, Of Montreal, and Deathray Davies among others.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Their new album, the band's second, is also called the Vice and Virtue Ministry, and is out now on Dallas-based Undeniable Records. It was recorded with and co-produced by Stuart Sikes, who has worked Modest Mouse, The Walkmen, and the White Stripes - his hand in their sound is subtle but recognizable, with remarkably tight productions on all twelve tracks on the CD. I really like their sound, and there are a handful of songs on the album that are really quite beautiful, especially the first track "Learning To Love The Factory" and the crazy-titled "A Momentary Vision of the End of the World As Seen Through the Eyes of a Suburban Housewife" - good stuff.

You can order the Vice and Virtue Ministry direct from the label here. If you're feeling these guys AND you live in Texas, they have a couple of shows lined up for Fort Worth and Dallas in October, with plans for more shows around the mid-west, so check their shows page for information.