Blue Jeans and Khaki Pants is not for the faint of heart. The band’s “X-rated honkey-tonk” is many things: obviously satirical, intentionally crude and universally offensive. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
It’s hard to tell where the joke ends and reality begins with BJKP, and it’s equally difficult to know whether to laugh or be appalled by its antics. Much of the band’s catalog aims simply to shock and get a rise out of the audience. However, one could argue that tracks like “Black, White or Gay” — which includes lyrics and slurs that are reprehensible at face value — actually contain a backhanded message of tolerance, albeit hidden within the inflammatory rhetoric and satirical context. It’s murky water, no doubt, but BJKP walks the line with seeming ease. Maybe the band has a special knack for pushing things just far enough, or maybe it just doesn’t give a damn. Either way, the endless shenanigans certainly keep the audience guessing.
A teaser for the band’s upcoming documentary:
As one might suspect, nothing about BJKP can be taken at face vaule. Here’s what we do know (sort of):
• The band recorded its first album, Banned in Forty States, in 2006.
• BJPK claims to have toured Japan extensively for the past six years (we’re more than skeptical of this assertion).
• Bassist Adam Kowalski and frontman Russell Anders appeared on a recent episode of Judge Karen’s Court, performing a song and settling an alleged dispute over monies spent on a free range chicken farm.
• The band stars in its own Youtube web series.
• BJKP is the subject of a short documentary film, currently in production.
• Live performances feature a chorus of “hillbilly” puppet backup singers.
• The band’s merch table consists of random flea market finds, hastily stenciled with BJKP in spray paint (haggling over price is encouraged).
• Anders has used a number of aliases for the band, including “Deep Dickman the Cornhole Shufflers,” “Russ T. NutZ and the Titillating Trio” and “Johnny Foodstamp and the EBT All-Stars.”
The band recommends its music for “anyone living in sin, a single wide, or making their living cruising the local truck stop parking lot,” but if you’ve got a healthy sense of humor, a tolerance for the crude and some seriously thick skin, you too can join the madness tonight at The Get Down. Comedian Pat Fudgin’ Hinson and Slim Chance and the Can’t Hardly Playboys open. 9 p.m. $7.
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