Album Notes

Oh my god! Two Ton Shoe has a new CD out for the first time in forevah! 12 new tunes powered by the songwriting of Gilman and Beech and Gilmania's powerhouse production skills. Inspired in part by the band's resurgent success in South Korea, "Never Cancel the Stage!" exhibits the fusion of funk and pop that drove previous hits like "Medicine" and "Paper Bag".

"Never Cancel the Stage!" will also be released in 2008 in South Korea under a different title by FarGo Music.

About the Shoe:

The music of Two Ton Shoe combines world-weary rock wisdom, deep pocket pop sensibility, wry white soul optimism and a kind of barely restrained muscular chopsiness underneath it all that threatens to rip your face off if you’re not careful. The songs sound as though they were crafted with painstaking care in a secret laboratory on the moon, designed to liberate the masses from urban loneliness and modern radio lameness.

Formed in 1995, primarily from the members of Boston alt metal outfit Mystery Jones, Two Ton Shoe won instant street cred in the New England area with live performances that had both local music aficionados and drunks screaming and local musicians shaking their heads in dumb admiration. While the punch and ferocity of their metal background gave the music a solid launch pad, the music was now driven by nasty funk grooves and tightly constructed pop melodies, along with soaring solo performances that brought to mind the craftiness and charm of 70’s session musicians laying it down on buttery black vinyl.

Successful pop music has often been about experimentation – taking disparate elements and combining them in a novel way. Listening to TTS, one gets the sense that they’ve done this, but in a sincere and heartfelt way. A true hard-on for music is reflected in their songs. While the writing is mature and thoughtful, one easily imagines that the guys in the band have maintained the souls of fifteen-year-old boys, kids whose identity is wrapped up in the bands they love, whose happiness depends on the sound of vicious snare drums, growling guitars, fat-assed bass lines and hooks, hooks, hooks.


More background on TTS:

The original lineup of TTS included Justin Beech (vocals, guitar), Dave DiCenso (drums, vocals) Jeff Gilman (bass, vocals), and Jake Shapiro (guitar, vocals). Dave departed TTS in 2002, and the likes of John O'Reilly, Kevin Shurtleff, Chad Smith, Mike Mangini, Troy Velasquez, Larry Finn, Pete Maclean, and Joe Patten fill in on drums.

TTS was also one of the first bands to take advantage of the internet for independent distribution. With the help of MIT Media Lab whiz kid Keith Martin, the Shoe put up a website with MP3s in 1995, and was a top downloaded artist on MP3.com throughout the late 90s. In 1999 TTS was voted "best band on the internet" (and won $20k worth of gear...not too shabby).

As a result the Shoe enjoys a worldwide fanbase, from Italy to Brazil to Russia and South Korea.

In 2005 TTS inked a deal with Pastel Music (recently renamed FarGo Music) in South Korea to release a double CD for distribution in east Asia.