Critters Buggin is a

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington-based

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

group which performs in a jazz, rock and African-influenced, eclectic style. The band is composed of

Matt Chamberlain Matthew Chamberlain (born April 17, 1967) is an American session drummer, record producer and songwriter. He has played with various artists, including Pearl Jam, Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, David Bowie, Tori Amos, Morrissey, The Wallflow ...

(drums, percussion, piano, programming, synths, loops, samples and digital editing),

Skerik Skerik (born November 19, 1964) is an American saxophonist from Seattle, Washington. Performing on the tenor and baritone saxophone, often with electronics and loops, he is a pioneer in a playing style that has been called saxophonics. He is a f ...

(saxophones, keyboards, loops, samples, effects and guitar),

Brad Houser John Bradley Houser (September 7, 1960 – July 24, 2023) was an American bass guitar, baritone saxophone and bass clarinet player, originally from Dallas, Texas. He was a co-founding member of the New Bohemians, later to become known as Edie Bric ...

(bass, baritone saxophone, bass clarinet and electronics) and Mike Dillon (vibraphone and percussion).

Music

Critters Buggin defies categorization because of their diverse musical styles. Reviews tend to describe their music as a combination of jazz, rock, funk and electronica. When asked to describe their music in 1994 Chamberlain stated that it is "jazzy, funky, rocky.... it has African rhythms, too." Houser stated it is "African, industrial, tribal music."Critters Buggin' Ignites Sweat-And-Groove Sound
Vanessa Ho, ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891, ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle Time ...

'', January 28, 1994, Retrieved November 29, 2007 While also reviewed in terms such as unique and adventurous, a 2008 review in ''

'' described them with such diverse terms as unorthodox, unhinged, tribal, unpredictable, mesmerizing, loud, abrasive, dissonant and ultimately satisfying.Critters Buggin: Keeping it unorthodox with a monster jam session
Jonathan Zwickel ''The Seattle Times'', July 3, 2008, retrieved August 5, 2008

History

The group began with

and

who were later joined by

, thus forming a trio in early 1993. John Bush joined soon afterward, and the group gave their first live performance using the "Critters Buggin" name in May 1993 at the Seattle club The Colourbox. Chamberlain, Houser and Bush were all from the then-disbanded

Edie Brickell & New Bohemians Edie Brickell & New Bohemians is an American alternative rock jam band that originated in Dallas, Texas, in the mid-1980s. The band is widely known for their 1988 hit "What I Am" from the album ''Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars''. Their music ...

. Skerik came from another Seattle group, Sadhappy. Their live success was followed by the release of their first album which was produced by

Stone Gossard Stone Carpenter Gossard (born July 20, 1966) is an American musician and songwriter who serves as the rhythm guitarist for the rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Jeff Ament, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of the ...

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. One of the key bands in the grunge, grunge movement of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam has outsold and outlasted many of its contemporaries from the early 1990s, ...

on his then new label Loosegroove. The original Critters Buggin trio continued with several guest musicians, including Mike Dillon. Chamberlain and Dillon had both played in the locally popular Dallas, Texas band Ten Hands in the 1980s. All except Skerik were part of the Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas scene through the early 1990s. By 1998 Dillon had joined Critters Buggin as a fourth member, thus forming the current line-up as of a July 2008 tour. In 2007 Critters Buggin released the DVD, ''Get the Clackervalve and the Old Clobberd Biscuits Out and Smack the Grand Ham Clapper's Mother''. It is a live set filmed and recorded during the Warsaw Summer Jazz Days 1999 performed in The Palace of Culture and Science of

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Critters Buggin Trio (2006)

In 2006 Skerik, Dillon and Houser toured as Critters Buggin Trio. In the 2007 the trio toured as The Dead Kenny G's and were reviewed as uniquely "combining jazz, rock, punk, funk and world music." In October 2009 they released a debut CD ''Bewildered Herd''. The trio toured with Primus in 2010 and released the CD ''Operation Long Leash'' in 2011.

Discography

Studio and live albums

*1994 – ''

Guest A guest is person who is given hospitality. Guest or The Guest may refer to: * Guest (surname), people with the surname ''Guest'' * USS ''Guest'' (DD-472), U.S. Navy ''Fletcher''-class destroyer 1942–1946 * Guest appearance, guest actor, guest ...

'' (Loosegroove) *1997 – ''

Host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County * Host Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica People * ...

'' (Loosegroove) *1997 – '' Monkeypot Merganzer'' (independent) *1998 – ''Bumpa'' (Loosegroove) *1998 – ''

Amoeba An amoeba (; less commonly spelled ameba or amœba; : amoebas (less commonly, amebas) or amoebae (amebae) ), often called an amoeboid, is a type of Cell (biology), cell or unicellular organism with the ability to alter its shape, primarily by ...

'' (Loosegroove) *2004 – ''

Stampede A stampede () is a situation in which a group of large animals suddenly start running in the same direction, especially because they are excited or frightened. Although the term is most often applied to animals, there are cases of humans stamped ...

'' (

Ropeadope Records Ropeadope Records is an American record label known for recordings in a variety of genres including jazz, hip hop, gospel and electronic music. The label, now led by Louis Marks, was founded in 1999 by Andy HurwitzAndy Hurwitz"Ropeadope carves id ...

) *2009 – ''Live in 95 at the OK Hotel – Seattle 1995'' (independent) *2014 – ''Muti'' EP (independent) ''Guest'', ''Host'', ''Monkeypot Merganzer'' and ''Bumpa'' were reissued by Kufala Recordings in 2004.

EPs and compilations

*1996 – ''Endless Records complication one'' – various artists (Endless Records) "Sweat Box" *2000 – ''Taxi'' (independent – EP vinyl)

DVD

*2007 – ''Get the Clackervalve and the Old Clobberd Biscuits Out and Smack the Grand Ham Clapper's Mother'' (Live 6/26/99 Warsaw Summer Jazz Days)

References

External links

*
Critters Buggin's Myspace page
* Allmusic: Critters Buggin* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Critters Buggin American instrumental musical groups Ropeadope Records artists