Them Slack Jawed Sons of Bitches || Drinkin' Music || Hidden Rock'n'Roll p.4

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Who would of ever thought that Them Slack Jawed Sons of Bitches original nucleus was formed out of a short-lived band project called Fart-Pod Five?  Imagine that?  When prompted where the original band name came from the only answer I received was, "just put it this way, you wouldn't of wanted to be in the practice studio with us."  I think I got the message.

The formation of this icon of the San Jose drinking scene started between Jeff Okubo (formerly of Platinum Head, Two Headed Turtle & Denial) and Steve "aka Stevil, aka Pickle, aka Sweet Pickle" Laflen (The X-Old Ladies, The Booty Chesterfield Trio & Tropical Leather).  These two men met through a mutual friend who was a friend of both these lads ex-girlfriend (yes, they dated the same woman, allegedly at different times).  They were not sure of what the exact vein of music they wanted to tap into, but their roots kept pulling toward a country sound.  See, Jeff's father grew up on a farm in the southbay area and the family car was always dialed into KEEN, the southbay's country station.  Through transfusion of trips to the corner market, 70s country was infused into the young mans psyche.  Now, Sweet Pickle is from Tuscon, Arizona.  The state where guns laws are loose and outlaws are still hiding.  Country was the way he came out of the womb.


With the addition of Eric "Magnum" Burchfield on bass the 3 played out and about as a trio for sometime.  They still felt that something was missing.  They auditioned banjo players, harmonica players, female vocalists, you name it....but it wasn't until the seasoned pedal steel player, Mr. John Vaughan (former guitarist for The Mind Garage who was famously known as the band who put on the First Christian Rock Service on March 10, 1968 and infamously declined to play Woodstock the following year), came into the mix that the SJSOBs became a complete unit.

From there they just about became the house band at the Caravan Lounge in 2009 and '10.  They played there just about every other week.  Rachel, the main bartender booking bands, took a liking to their raw, upbeat country sound.  With all that playing underneath their belts a pretty tight little quartet formed and started getting local gigs elsewhere and up in the city.  When and nice array of original songs, they went into the studio in 2009 and recorded their debut album "Whiskey and Waffles", which became a local favorite.  When I asked a local fan what draws them toward them SJSOBs he replied, "it is just good toe-tapping music."

This band is definitely a sum of the parts.  There is no doubt that Stevil takes the leads on the musical attributes as well as the amazingly precise and rocking guitar picking.  Still, with out Jeff's steady beat and backing vocals (as well as in-between songs antics), the songs would not be the same.  Then you have Magnum keeping the low end, steady and minimalistic.  I'll never forget the bass-player of Huntinanny saying, "God, I love the way you play.  How do you avoid so many notes?  I feel like I noodle way too much when I see you play."  And last, but not least is the pedal playing on John.  He does a wonderful job of throwing in a layer of tone into the songs that makes them really have a life. 

They are a fun band to go and see on a weekend at your local watering hole.  My advice go grab a cold beer, maybe a shot of whiskey and check them out at a dive by near you.

Here are some videos to further let you know what Them Slack Jawed Sons of Bitches is all about:

Classic Caravan footage:

This is from the now defunct Checkered Flag:

Here they are opening up for Wayne "The Train" Hancock at The Blank Club: