Hump it up

Broken Hearts are for Humpers

by LORRIE EDMONDS

Yeah, you were a Humper in high school--when you and your squeeze nearly "did it" with your clothes on. Your dog is a Humper when it's doing the love dance against your leg (Mom always said that our dog was just giving Dad a hug).

But Epitaph Records offers another definition: meet the Humpers, five guys from Long Beach, California who mount the pleasure principle of fast-playing, pumped-up rock 'n' roll. Set to punch-drunk three-chord stomps, the Humpers' latest is Plastique Valentine, their second record for the Epitaph empire after Live Forever Or Die Trying. Sure, the Humpers act out the SoCal party punks onstage, but in fact their tunes pack more emotional weight than expected. On the lyrical side alone, it sounds like these guys have had some scorchingly bad breakups along the road to ruin.

"Well... yeah," comes the sheepish reply from Humpers vocalist Scotty "Deluxe" Drake. "Although right now I'm married--and happily married. I was asked why I write so many horrible love-gone-bad songs if I'm so happily married, but I don't really have any answers."

Maybe there's one particular ice queen from his past? "More than one!" Drake laughs. "The problem is that my wife said that if I write any songs that have anything to do with her, she'd beat me up, so I have to delve back into the past to find stuff to write about."

Though Drake admits that his band members are "kinda ripened with age," the Humpers treat their fans as somewhat (budding) cultural intellects.

"I can't write songs and think about no one understanding a certain reference," says Drake. "When I was that age, if I heard a word that I didn't know, I'd get out my dictionary. Hopefully nobody's dumbfounded. When I was 15 or 16, I knew who Jackson Pollock was. Hopefully if people are open-minded and we're talking about things they haven't yet experienced, maybe they can try to project into their future to understand. The kids who are curious and know what's going on will know what it's all about. I mean, you can't dummy it up just to sell records.

"And if you can't figure us out," Drake adds, "you should try listening to--I dunno--Moby."

The Humpers kick out the jams with guests the Ripcordz on Tuesday, April 29 at Foufounes Électriques, 8pm. $7+tax