Ritz Carlton Is Now Inside You
Fave Raves — Track #3: BRASS NIPPLES / Track #4: MAKIN LOVE
Who is Ritz Carlton? Where does he come from? We wish we could tell you...
We ask Ritz this question nearly every week, and he gives us the pat answer, “Umm, alright, my man, let me get back to you on that.”
Here’s what we can tell you... Have you heard of the band Los Straightjackets? Ritz showed up as their merch man (we’re not joking) on several tours over the last decade. Being an instrumental band, the Straightjackets would bring Ritz on stage to sing a few songs at every show, and he blew the crowd away. They went berserk for Ritz!
He then enlisted Hollywood, California’s stellar merchants of beat, the Outta Sites, to back him on occasion — in addition to touring Europe with them and assisting on bass.
After heading to the East Coast, Ritz has popped up, seemingly randomly and magically, at shows big and small. He’s performed at the famed Hukilau Festival in Fort Lauderdale and the equally renowned Ohana in Lake George, NY.
Ritz’s first full LP, Ritz Carlton Is Now Inside You, stays true to Ritz’s idiosyncratic, enigmatic, and offbeat nature — a wild mix of garage punk, rockabilly, and psychotic lounge music that’s genuinely hard to describe!
It’s an outlandish album from a man that entered our world from who knows where? And will, most likely, one day evaporate from it just the same.
Jack Rabid/The Big Takeover #86…
Back to now, Ritz Carlton (is he comped at their resorts?) is known for guest turns vocalizing for Los Straitjackets. His thing produces grins like watching those masked men play “Itchy Chicken”— in fact, “Feed the Chicken” might be a lyrical cousin. He’s all over the map, best on the trashy-punk Controllers sound of “Brass Nipples,” while making stops at weirdo instrumentals, voodoo psychobilly, new wavey electro-pop, Troggs primitivism, and a lounge-y cover of Danny Pearson’s Barry White-produced 1978 #16 R&B “What’s Your Sign, Girl?,” retitled, and odder than Alex Chilton’s. What’s his sign/deal? Beats all!
- Limited-edition 12-inch vinyl packaging features a genuine black velvet painting of Ritz on the front cover!
- On powder-blue-tuxedo colored vinyl, compact disc, and cassette!
- Incredible cover painting by Shannon Smith, aka Mrs. Spacewolf!
Ritz Carlton Bio
What little we're able to tell you about Ritz is above. Sorry, we don't have any more info.
All we'll add here is that the man is a lunatic live! Check out one of his shows when he comes to a town near you. Truly a sight to behold!
For more info about Ritz Carlton and Ritz Carlton Is Now Inside You, please contact us using the form here.
