They Are the Messer

The music you can wear on a USB flash-drive bracelet. Or you can pop it into your CD player. Or download it *free* and rock out anywhere you take your iPod.  Honestly, we're waiting for "I Am the Messer" to appear as a limited edition fruit-roll-up. And we'd buy it, listen to it and then enjoy the tasty tracks offered up by Los Angeles pop/garage rockers Killola as a midnight snack.

Killola is a truly an Internet success story. They booked their 2007 10-day tour of the UK completely through the online community Myspace. Lead singer Lisa Rieffel and bassist Johnny Dunn work the Internet radio waves through their weekly radio show "The Lisa and Johnny Show" on Spread Radio Live founded by Dave Navarro. Killola is known for their free-downloads of their albums and just re-released their newest album "I Am The Messer" completely free with two bonus tracks all courtesy of DW Drums. Behold, the power of the Internet.

Sure, it sounds like Killola are nothing more than self-promotion whores, but they have good reason to be: they rock. And there's something to be said about using the power of the Internet to grab and maintain fans. Killola has mastered that art. They've even gone so far as to get fans to promote them with no cost to the band – they've encouraged fans to get Killola tattoos. Not a band way to get your name "out there."

"Killola tattoo equals free show entries for life," Rieffel told Alternative Press earlier this year. At that time, she estimated about 15 tattoos out there but we've been watching this band for a while and that number has surely grown.

But there's more to this band than shameless self-promotion. Indeed, this is a band with a unique sound that's electronic, poppy, punk, rock, and cultish all at once. They've shared stages with bands like The Dollyrots, Girl in a Coma, Phantom Planet, and The Binges to name a few. Their live shows are marked with an unrivaled frenetic energy.

"I usually black out by the middle of the first song," Rieffel says. "People tell me that I jump on fans, molest the drummer, throw up behind the amps and lay on the floor in the crowd – but I can't say that I'm aware of any of that."

A vocal chameleon, Rieffel manages to play her role as front woman while never dressing two songs the same way. She makes you sit down, shut up and pay attention while she delivers her lyrics with force and perhaps just a dash of flames. The rest of the band (guitarist Mike Ball, drummer Dan Grody, and bassist Johnny Dunn) go beyond the standard description of solid and really help shape Killola into the band that it is. They successfully create a perfect canvas for the presentation of each song and simply from listening to the band you can tell each track is created with joy.

The band is nothing that you would expect and everything you should expect all at once. One thing is for certain, when you listen to this band, expect nothing less than Killola.

Editor's Note: Find Killola on the web at www.killola.com