New York band Bluffing is an act that promises not to waste the listener’s time, melding catchy melodies and fierce brevity into a punk-pop hybrid that explodes in moments of misfit energy.
The band’s first release
Sugar Coated Pills of Wisdom
is a mini-LP distributed by the label PaperCup Music. Bluffing will be making its Athens debut at the Smiling Skull, 108 W. Union St., on Monday, June 30.
Bluffing is a songwriting duo from Brooklyn, New York natives J Boxer and Olivia Drusin. The two share vocal duties, playing drums and guitar respectively. They are set to start their first tour June 29, with assistance from guitarist Sammy Weissberg and bassist Lily Konigsberg.
The group is joined by Big Neck Police, who booked a majority of the shows on this tour, as well as Lovely Little Girls and Sign Off.
We’re actually pretty excited to get out of the city and play some different venues,” Boxer said.”
The band draws heavily on classic punk acts such as The Ramones and other similar groups of the ’70s and ’90s such as Black Tambourine and Tiger Trap.
“I’m really interested in the idea, of how you can convey so much in such a short amount of time,” he said. “I think it leaves the listener wanting more in a good way. Like The Misfits for example, there’s absolutely no filler. It just depends on whatever the song calls for, we don’t want to constrict ourselves either.”
Drusin originally played with an acoustic focus, and met Boxer at a show with his older band Fiasco. The group wants to create short, catchy songs with a punk emphasis.
“We just want to play in a way that explores how pop influences punk and vice versa,” Boxer said. “Even though punk was originally supposed to be this big rebellion thing against pop, I think it’s easy to see elements of each in both genres, and obviously it all goes back to rock and the blues.”
Time is money, and Bluffing keeps economy in mind. The group’s 10-song mini-LP clocks in at only 16 minutes in length.
“I was heavily influenced by The Minute Men,” Boxer said. “They were a punk band that played really short songs, some even less than a minute long. They had this really funny quote that went along the lines of ‘if you don’t like this song, just wait a minute until the next one.’ ”
Boxer said that the LP’s title is a slogan borrowed from the children’s cartoon Aesop’s Fables, in which caricatured animals embark on tripped-out adventures that end with a moral lesson and the ambiguous phrase “sugar coated pills of wisdom.”
“It’s not like I would have a problem with people labeling us as pop, punk, or pop-punk. We’re definitely trying to mix the two,” Boxer said. “We enjoy (old) Blink-182 as much as the next fan, there’s no shame with that. But we aren’t trying to be on a “warped tour” sort of sound. We want to do something different. You can call it whatever you want. We’re just having fun.”
If You Go
What: BLUFFING, Big Neck Police,
Lovely Little Girls and Sign Off
When: 9 p.m. Monday
Where: The Smiling Skull, 108 W. Union St.
Admission: $4
