Rubblebucket is a bucket load of fun. Do you like fun? Do you like dancing? Do you like a woman leading six men into the head-bopping, toe-tapping, hip-swiveling, horn-happy fray, fighting off mediocre mainstream pop with trumpets, trombones and saxophones?
If the answer is yes, queue up “Came Out of a Lady,” off 2011’s Omega La La, stat. Then rock out to 2013’s “Save Charlie” off Save Charlie; the seven-track EP throws some seriously sunny punches, enough to keep your vitamin C levels up through the winter until the indie pop band releases its third full-length album come 2014.
I’m pretty sure two disco balls smashed Mates of State, Reel Big Fish and Ladysmith Black Mambazo together, and out of the sparkling splinters sprung lead singer and (tenor and bari) sax player Kalmia Traver with her six-piece, electro-brass army — a super-duper upbeat band, but not in a white-robed, Polyphonic Spree kind of way. Paste Magazine describes the Vermont-born, Brooklyn-based band best: “joyous jungles of worldly pop-funk, instrumentally rich but catchy enough to ass-kick Katy Perry off the pop charts (in a just world) — mega-melodic without sacrificing an ounce of atmosphere or creativity.”
To top it all off, Traver announced on the band’s Facebook page Oct. 15 that she is “done with chemo!” This summer, Traver was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She continues, “Touring this month has brought me back so much strength already. I can’t wait to keep seeing (and painting on) all your smiling faces as we go on through the fall. Come say hi and let’s DANCE!”
Now that’s something to celebrate; head out on Halloween and hear Rubblebucket roar.
Rubblebucket plays 9 pm Thursday, Oct. 31, at Cozmic; $10 adv., $12 door.