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Fort Lauderdale's the Riot Act Talks About Opening for Dick Dale and First Playing Radio-Active Records
A few months back, we first spoke with Christian Clarke, founder of rock 'n' roll duo the Riot Act. He was smart and funny on the phone, and we thought it came through somewhat in the article, though not enough. A recent chance encounter with the singer at the Jon Bon Jovi show led us to this list of Clarke's favorite drinking tunes. You'll truly get a taste here of the man's humor. And it is good.
He's trying to get you prepped to drink like a little fishy at the Sailor Jerry rum and Inked Magazine casting call party this Friday night. They're looking for tattooed calendar girls, so expect to be surrounded by badder bitches than you. The Riot Act is performing alongside the Gun Hoes and DJ Mig at Revolution Live.
This list and Clarke's thoughts on these songs will get you amped to guzzle some dark and stormies while sloppily hitting on rockabilly chicks who won't ever have you.
5. "Too Drunk to Fuck" - Dead Kennedys
4. "Gin and Juice" - Snoop Dogg
"You can't even try to say the lyrics out loud without sounding like Snoop. Try it: 'I got bitches in the living room gettin' it on, And they ain't leavin' til six in the mornin','" sings the singer. "When you have a song that no one would even consider covering, you got a classic. And this is coming from a guy who's not the least bit interested in hip-hop."
3. "Say It Ain't So" - Weezer
"Weezer's first album bridged the gap between joke band and slacker epic songwriting. No one ever wanted to take them seriously, but 'Say It Ain't So' couldn't be ignored. In an album full of great toe-tapping songs, Weezer hit the jackpot with this one," Clarke says of this teen angst classic. "There's a heartbreaking honesty to Cuomo's voice and even the way the feedback leads you into the crescendos. He even had me feeling bad that someone had left a Heineken crowding his icebox."
2. "Tin Pan Alley" - Stevie Ray Vaughan and Johnny Copeland
"This has always been one of my favorites," Clarke says of this classic ditty. "Written by Ray Agee in 1968 but hauntingly delivered by Vaughan and Copeland live at the 1985 Montreaux Jazz Festival. Vaughan has the kind of clean guitar tone that sent a million armchair guitarists off to spend fortunes trying to mimic."
The Riot Act's songwriter continues, "And Copeland shows Stevie Ray a thing or two about what a real singing voice is all about. The song has little to do with the fabled writer's neighborhood at the turn of the century and more about the desperation of people livin' for their whiskey, wine, and gin."
1. "Warm Beer and Cold Women" - Tom Waits
"Nighthawks at the Diner was Waits' third record. It was completely unheard of to do a live album of brand-new material. But this song, in particular, makes you feel like it was an old standard." Clarke admits of the tune, "It's warm, it's reminiscing, it's about telling recycled stories in naugahyde booths and trying to fit in. He's telling about being at your favorite watering hole and drinking to forget you. But really, he's hoping you'll come back for more."
Make sure to catch the Riot Act performing with the Gun Hoes and DJ Mig at the Sailor Jerry and Inked Magazine casting call party at 9 p.m. Friday, August 3, at Revolution Live, 100 SW Third Ave., Fort Lauderdale. Open bar from 9 to 10 p.m., and no cover all night.
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