The Strange Boys

It would be a fool's errand to try to count everyone raiding the coffers of '60s garage-rock psychedelia and shaking down Roky Erickson's beleaguered psyche looking for their own two-headed dogs. The Strange Boys have been guilty of their fair share of similar artistic heists. On the surface, they just found a clever way of mixing in some country fed through Dorothy's Oz-bound twister. The warped pop that characterized the Velvet Underground's more accessible moments can be heard in the act's tunes. Fortunately, frontman Ryan Sambol seems to be a genuine eccentric who isn't trying to stand in anyone's shadow or fit in with the latest trend. With the recent addition of former members of Mika Miko to the lineup, the Strange Boys will get rock-and-roll teeth to go along with their dementia.