The Sound of Urchin (Sound Of Urchin / SOU / TSOU / Urchin) is a musically diverse " outsider

arena-rock Arena rock (also known as stadium rock, pomp rock or corporate rock) is a style of rock music that became mainstream in the 1970s. It typically involves radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are e ...

" band from

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

and

New Hope, Pennsylvania New Hope is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,612 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. New Hope is located approximately north of Philadelphia, and lies on the west b ...

. SOU is known for their eclectic songs, for energetic, spontaneous live shows, and for their heavy touring schedule.

Band History

The Sound of Urchin's debut E.P. was released on lead-singer/drummer

Tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...

’s own independent label, Steven Records. After further developing their style and sound, they signed to major label

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

and began working with Dean Ween of Ween. From 2000 to 2002, the band released two E.P.’s, The Orange E.P. (produced by Dean Ween) and the Jack And Diane E.P. (produced by Keith Cleversley of Flaming Lips and Hum fame), and their first full length album, You Are The Best (produced by Keith Cleversley), on

. In 2002, the band made a video for their song "Scary Skull Eyes". It was directed by Lorin Finkelstein and featured on

MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision. The channel launched initially as an all-music ...

’s

120 Minutes ''120 Minutes'' is a television program in the United States dedicated to the Alternative rock, alternative music genre, that originally aired on MTV from 1986 to 2000, and then aired on MTV's associate channel MTV2 from 2001 to 2003. After it ...

. In 2005, The Sound of Urchin's second full length album ''The Diamond'' was released on Hybrid Recordings, and produced by

Fountains Of Wayne Fountains of Wayne is an American Rock music, rock band that formed in New York City in 1995. The band included founding members Chris Collingwood, Adam Schlesinger, Jody Porter, and Brian Young (drummer), Brian Young. They released six album ...

Adam Schlesinger Adam Lyons Schlesinger (October 31, 1967 – April 1, 2020) was an American musician, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He was a founding member of the bands Fountains of Wayne, Ivy, and Tinted Windows, and was also a member of the ban ...

, and mixed by Chris Shaw. The independent label is led by former A&M Records label head Al Cafaro and legendary concert promoter John Scher. SOU performed their best-known song from 2005, "There Are People In The Clouds", before nationwide audiences on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish actor and comedian Craig Ferguson. This was the third iteration of the The Late Late Show (American talk show), ''Late Late Show'' franchise, airi ...

, In 2007 SOU released the "Rejoice (Limited Edition)" album, their 3rd full-length release, as a fans-only CD, to those who attended the Rejoice US Tour. It was produced by Tomato and mixed by Josh Wilbur. And features the lineup that included Tomato on vocals/drums, B-ILL and Robbie “Seahag” Mangano on lead guitars, and Michael Davidson on bass. Rejoice also features vocal legend

Ellen Foley Ellen Foley (born June 5, 1951) is an American singer and actress who has appeared on Broadway and television, where she co-starred in the hit NBC sitcom '' Night Court'' during its second season. In music, she has released five solo albums, bu ...

(Meatloaf, The Clash) on the song “The Rooster Says Good Morning”. 2014 saw the vinyl-only release of the 4th full length Urchin album, "Black Castle", on Tucson AZ's Baby Gas Mask Records. Black Castle was produced by Tomato and showcases a more experimental studio/home-recording hybrid sound. In 2015, Urchin released the full length "The WoozyFly Sessions" album, which were live-in-the-studio recordings of live show staples of the Rejoice-era line-up. 2017 saw the re-release of both "The Diamond" album as "The Diamond Deluxe", and the "Jack And Diane E.P." as "Jack And Diane Deluxe", as extended albums with unreleased recordings from each era as bonus tracks. 2019 saw the official release of the "Rejoice" album on Tomato's Steven Records, with the bonus “Rock n’ Roll is True E.P." as extended tracks; and also saw the official release of the "Black Castle" album on Tomato's Steven Records in 2019, with the bonus “The Crypt E.P." as extended tracks.

Touring History and Affiliations

The Sound of Urchin are

Zelig ''Zelig'' is a 1983 American satirical mockumentary comedy film written, directed by and starring Woody Allen as Leonard Zelig, a nondescript enigma, who, apparently out of his desire to fit in and be liked, unwittingly takes on the characteris ...

-esque chameleons of rock, as their diverse style has gained them entrance into likewise diverse

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

circles. For example, over the years SOU has toured with bands like

Tenacious D Tenacious D is an American comedy rock duo formed in Los Angeles in 1994 by the actors Jack Black and Kyle Gass. Their music showcases Black's theatrical vocal delivery and Gass' acoustic guitar playing. Critics have described their fusion of ...

, Ween, Dio/

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

Scorpions Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...

, Cracker,

Mike Watt Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957) is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo ca ...

Slightly Stoopid Slightly Stoopid is an American Rock music, rock band based in the Ocean Beach, San Diego, Ocean Beach neighborhood of San Diego, San Diego, California, who describe their music as "a fusion of folk, rock, reggae and blues with hip-hop, funk, m ...

Fishbone Fishbone is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1979, the band plays a fusion of ska, punk, funk, metal, reggae, and soul. AllMusic has described the group as "one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative ...

, The North Mississippi Allstars,

The Urge The Urge is an heavy alternative rock band based in St. Louis, Missouri. Their music combines several genres, including hardcore punk, heavy metal, ska, reggae, funk, rock, and rhythm and blues. Consistent touring throughout the 1990s earned ...

SR-71 The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" is a retired Range (aeronautics), long-range, high-altitude, Mach number, Mach 3+ military strategy, strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed and manufactured by the American aerospace company Lockheed Co ...

Trik Turner Trik Turner is an American rap rock band formed in Phoenix, Arizona in 1999. The band is best known for their song "Friends and Family", which reached the top ten on the ''Billboard'' Modern Rock chart and received significant airplay on MTV, ...

, Bargain Music, The Ziggens, as well as sharing stages with

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

Twisted Sister Twisted Sister was an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in 1972 in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, and later based on Long Island, New York (state), New York. Their best-known songs include "We're Not Gonna Take It (Twisted Sister song ...

, Slash's Snakepit,

Dick Dale Richard Anthony Monsour (May 4, 1937 – March 16, 2019), known professionally as Dick Dale, was an American Rock music, rock guitarist. He was a pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern music scale (music), scales and experimenting wit ...

Butthole Surfers Butthole Surfers are an American rock band formed in San Antonio, Texas, by singer Gibby Haynes and guitarist Paul Leary in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has ...

, Everclear, Project/Object, Vernon Reid, Lit,

2 Skinnee J's 2 Skinnee J's (alternatively spelled Two Skinnee J's or Too Skinnee J's) is an American hip hop band from Brooklyn, New York, whose music has been categorized as nerdcore and rap rock. The band was founded in 1991 by Special J (vocals), Rabbi J- ...

Cobra Verde ''Cobra Verde'' (also known as ''Slave Coast'') is a 1987 German drama film directed by Werner Herzog and starring Klaus Kinski, in their fifth and final collaboration. Based upon Bruce Chatwin's 1980 novel '' The Viceroy of Ouidah'', the film d ...

, and Local H. Urchin has had a long affiliation with the band Ween; Dean Ween has been a mentor to the band and produced their first major label release ''The Orange E.P.'',

and B-ILL play in Dean Ween and Guy Heller's Moistboyz (featured on the "Live Jihad" DVD release) and have played with Ween, Dean Ween's Tenderloin and toured with the Dean Ween Group in 2018. B-ILL also played guitar on Ween's “The Mollusk” album, and Tomato plays drums with Ween's bassist Dave Dreiwitz, as a duo called Crescent Moon. They have also collaborated with

; Urchin was the opening act on their 2001 tour, and

played drums with them for their 2002

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

Crank Yankers ''Crank Yankers'' is an American television sketch comedy show produced by Adam Carolla, Jimmy Kimmel and Daniel Kellison. It features actual prank calls made by show regulars and celebrity guests, with on-screen re-enactments by puppets. The sh ...

recording of “Friendship”.

Members

Current members

(Chris Harfenist) – drums, lead vocal * Reverend B-ILL (Bill Fowler) – lead guitar, main backup vocal

Side members

* Black Sebabbitt (Jack Krause) – co-writer, character vocals * Mr. Richard Rickles (Wayne Price) – tambourine, dancer * Jah Rob (Rob Marcario) - artwork * Johnny Stees (Jason Pietropaulo) - Greek runs, tour manager, ruling the night

Live members

* Jordan Shapiro - keyboard * Chris Shepherd - lead guitar * Conor Kinsman – bass * Matt Holloman - lead guitar * Brian Ellingham - bass

Past members

* Doo Doo Brown (Chris Huetz) – bass, backup vocal * Hollywood Scotty Choc (Scott Heydt) – lead guitar, backup vocal * Barbie Smooth (Mike Huetz) – producer, guitar * Seahag (Robbie Mangano) - lead guitar, bass, backup vocal * Michael Davidson – bass * Josh Musto - guitar, backup vocal * Karina Rykman - guitar, bass, keyboards

Discography

Early pre-official SOU 4-track albums (1994-1998)

Official SOU Studio albums (1998–present)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sound of Urchin Alternative rock groups from New York (state) Musical groups from Pennsylvania