Macabre + Cabaret = Macabaret. It’s a word that had to be coined, because how does one describe a group such as Mr. Lewis and The Funeral 5?
On its second album Delirium Tremendous (Chicken Ranch Records) perhaps as Jim Morrison fronting a Rohypnol-addled Pogues? Or maybe as Tom Waits fronting The Doors. Obviously, this would be a good time for a shot of Jameson’s.
Ah… So… The polite mister referenced here is Mr. Greg Lewis who, with childhood friend James Sheeran, combined a love of punk rock, Brit-pop, jazz and country in 2002 to form the band that bears his name and now counts a half dozen conspirators among its numbers.
Somewhere six feet under, Mr. Lewis and The Funeral 5 tends to a concoction consisting of the crushed soul of Alice Cooper, the wave-riding guitars of The Ventures, the literally animated metal of Dethklok and the dark burlesque of The Dresden Dolls.
Releasing the perfectly titled Murder an...
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Macabre + Cabaret = Macabaret. It’s a word that had to be coined, because how does one describe a group such as Mr. Lewis and The Funeral 5?
On its second album Delirium Tremendous (Chicken Ranch Records) perhaps as Jim Morrison fronting a Rohypnol-addled Pogues? Or maybe as Tom Waits fronting The Doors. Obviously, this would be a good time for a shot of Jameson’s.
Ah… So… The polite mister referenced here is Mr. Greg Lewis who, with childhood friend James Sheeran, combined a love of punk rock, Brit-pop, jazz and country in 2002 to form the band that bears his name and now counts a half dozen conspirators among its numbers.
Somewhere six feet under, Mr. Lewis and The Funeral 5 tends to a concoction consisting of the crushed soul of Alice Cooper, the wave-riding guitars of The Ventures, the literally animated metal of Dethklok and the dark burlesque of The Dresden Dolls.
Releasing the perfectly titled Murder and The Art of The Dance in 2007, Mr. Lewis and The Funeral 5 became a fixture on Austin’s Red River music scene soon after. Inspired by New Orleans jazz funerals, Lewis arranges jubilant melodies with discordant no-wave dirges about love, sex, death, and whiskey.
Make that, lots of whiskey. It’s time for a second round! It’s time for Delirium Tremendous!
Greg Lewis (photo by Carol He)
Greg Lewis (photo by Carol He)
(Mr.) Lewis composes with cinematic sweep, taking a confident, playful, mix-and-match approach to genre. Just try to resist a devil that plays punk rock with a dash of tango.”-Austin Music Magazine
“If it’s closing time, and a circus barker trapped you in the circus freak-show tent, fear not. Let Mr. Lewis & the Funeral 5 be your soundtrack to escape.” -Margaret Moser, Austin Chronicle
“Mr. Lewis & the Funeral Five’s polka/lounge/murder ballads stung like Molotov cocktails thrown through the window of a church.” -Audra Schroeder, Austin Chronicle
“When fedora-wearing, experimentation-loving punk rockers get fed up with the status quo, anything can happen, and it does on the Austin sixpiece’s upcoming debut, Murder and the Art of the Dance” -Darcie Stevens, Austin Chronicle SXSW Wed. pick
“Mr. Lewis & the Funeral 5 bring the curtain down with the sweeping theatricality of Kurt Weill by way of Nick Cave on latest Murder and the Art of the Dance.” -Greg Beets, Austin Chronicle SXSW show guide
“Mr. Lewis & the Funeral 5 teach Murder and the Art of the Dance, like binding Tom Waits in the shackles of Tav Falco and demanding a tango.” -Austin Chronicle
“Murder and the Art of Dance swaggers up and delivers an emotional striptease that you simply can’t avert your eyes from.” —-Austinsound.net
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