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TERRY ANDERSON
&
THE OLYMPIC ASS KICKIN TEAM
http://www.myspace.com/olympicasskickinteam
[BIOGRAPHY]
[PHOTOS]
[PRESS]
[TOUR DATES]
[AUDIO]
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BIOGRAPHY
Infamous rocker Terry Anderson and his band, the Olympic Ass-Kickin Team release their third album, National Champions, on Doublenaught Records, although it is just as likely that the album may have escaped from captivity. Early praise for the album described the sound singer/drummer/songwriter Anderson, and teammates guitarist Dave Bartholomew, keyboardist Greg Rice, and bassist Jack Cornell unleash as "busting-at-the seams" and "careening back and forth between chicken-fried power pop and huge speaker bar band rock."
National Champions follows in the tradition of the other two Olympic Ass-Kickin Team's albums, the self-titled debut album and the live CD, When The OAKTeam Comes To Town, with its combination of, "Southern-fried roots rock, butt-thumping country, lip-locking hooks and a good-natured sense of humor" (highbias.com). This Doublenaught Records release is the worthy heir of the gritty sound that has been Anderson's scorching southern signature over his 30-year songwriting career with the likes of the Fabulous Knobs, the Yayhoos and the Woods. Lyrics about sex, woman trouble, cars, booze, and American contradictions walk hand-in-sweaty hand with the jangling guitar riffs, honky tonk keys and pounding drums, giving this studio album the raw visceral edge you'd expect from a team of self-described ass-kickers.
"At a time when listening to some artist's music feels like work, the output from Terry Anderson and the Olympic Ass Kickin Team is pure play," commented Rick Cornell. "Damn he's good," he mused.
You can almost hear the beer bottles clinking and the in-bar audience singing along on with these musicians renowned for their live performances. The band plans to tour constantly throughout 2009 and 2010 in support of the album and for the rawkin' joy of it.
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PHOTOS
Click on a thumbnail to download that hi-res JPEG (suitable for publication):
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TOUR DATES
coming soon!
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PRESS
The Olympic Ass-Kickin Team / National Champions
Blurt Magazine
by Lee Zimmerman
Naming your band the Olympic Ass Kickin' Team hints at no small measure of bravado. If anything, the cards are all laid out from the get-go. Not surprisingly then, Terry Anderson and company don't demure when it comes to unabashedly baring their influences. Theirs is a motif firmly rooted in old school sounds, freely pilfering a template set by the Stones, the Faces and such illicit offspring as Mott the Hoople, the New York Dolls, Johnny Thunders and NRBQ. Indeed, their cocky swagger and devil-may-care attitude do those forebears proud.
Anderson's own history really ranks as little more than a footnote. A product of the fertile North Carolina music scene, he worked with such minor outfits as the Woods and the Knobs prior to hoisting himself from his drum stool and offering his songs to a few fellow travelers. The Georgia Satellites tapped his rowdy rave-up "Battleship Chains" and later, the Satellites' leader, Dan Baird, extended the association by appropriating "I Love You Period," for his solo debut. Anderson then cut three relatively obscure solo albums (You Don't Like Me, What Else Can Go Right and I'll Drink to That) before casting his fortunes with this present band of rowdy rockers.
That said, National Champions, the group's second studio set, offers little in the way of real surprises, and if anything, the aforementioned references become all the more obvious. The brazen bluster embossing "Goin' Or Comin'" finds shades of Exile-era Stones reeling at the fore, just as the cleverly titled "You Had Me At Get Lost" reeks of pure, mid-period Faces. The associations are further extended via "Lost Your Number," its forlorn wail recalling a rare moment where Keef or Woody are allowed to croon at center stage. However the best songs are those that marry wit and resolve - the appropriately infectious "Willie Mays," an homage to the athlete who lends his name to the title, and "Pow'ful ‘Merka," a patriotic parody sung with tongue firmly lodged in cheek. Even so, aside from a detour into pure pop realms via "About You," and a bit of balladry with "Wrong For That," the variance in tone is limited to that which falls between a rant and a wail.
However, that's just fine. With attitude and amplitude, Anderson's intentions leave little room for second-guessing. Clearly, the Olympic Ass Kickin' Team delivers on their promise.
Standout tracks: "Willie Mays," "Pow'ful Merka," "About You"
The Olympic Ass-Kickin Team / National Champions
Hickory Wind
by Hal Bogerd
Unabashed disciples of Chuck Berry and the Rolling Stones, the Olympic Ass-Kickin Team plays hook-filled guitar rock loaded with large doses of Terry Anderson's twisted wacky sense of humor. "You Had Me At Get Lost" tells the tale of an infatuated ex who finds physical abuse and restraining orders signs of true love while "Wrong For That", with its Jaggeresque soul falsetto, finds a sad sack substitute lover looking to get his girl back into pole-dancing after she has another man's baby. "Found Missin' " is an updated Chuck Berry roadtrip tune with a "bop bop" vocal nod to Buddy Holly. Anderson's vocals on the thirteen tracks of bar-band rock recall both Keith and Tom Petty while the band harmonies on "About You" bring to mind "Big Star" . But it isn't all laughs as Terry Anderson has written the best baseball song of the year, a searing rocking indictment of Barry Bonds, with "Willie Mays" ( "756, is that homeruns or needle-pricks", "Hammerin' Hank still wears the crown" and "now you you should be erased, gone without a trace" ) and skewers the State of the Nation in "Pow'ful 'Merka".
The Olympic Ass-Kickin Team has not dethroned Chuck Berry or the Stones and they'd probably kick your ass if you told them they had but The Olympic Ass-Kickin Team prove on "National Champions" ( Doublenaught Records) that they rank up there with NRBQ and Dave Edmunds as true disciples.
Do yourself a favor and hop over to myspace and listen to "Willie Mays" by the Olympic Ass-Kickin Team.
Highly recommended.
The Olympic Ass-Kickin Team / National Champions
LMNOP
There are tons upon tons of ultra-creative, ultra-weird bands on the planet. And then every so often a band comes along...that just plays good music. And that's just what Terry Anderson and the Olympic Ass-Kickin' Team provide for their fans. Instead of blowing their listeners away with volume or abusing technology in an attempt to cover up for a lack of talent, Anderson and his bandmates (Dave Bartholomew, Greg Rice, Jack Cornell) seem content to merely provide good, solid, toe-tapping music. As is the case with past releases, National Champions provides good solid 1970s-influenced slightly boogie-infused pop music. Terry's band plays with a solid tight feel...and his slightly loose vocals sometimes recall early Edgar Winter or even Joe Walsh at times. Some really cool cover art this time around on the tri-fold cardboard sleeve. Nice passionate pop cuts include "Goin' or Comin'" and "Feel Right Now." Nice smooth totally entertaining stuff. (Rating: 5)
The Olympic Ass-Kickin Team / National Champions
Bullz-Eye.com
by Lee Zimmerman
When you name your band the Olympic Ass Kickin’ Team, you’re more or less laying it all on the line with no holds barred. Fortunately, Terry Anderson and company offer no allusions about from whence they come. Theirs is a back-to-the-basics motif firmly rooted in the old school sounds of the mid-to-late ‘60s and early ‘70s, bolstered by such badasses as the Stones, the Faces and illicit offspring like the New York Dolls, Johnny Thunders and NRBQ. Indeed, their cocky swagger and devil-may-care attitude summon up the best of Rock’s immortals by doing their forebears proud.
Anderson himself has something of a minor history, although in the strictest terms it would be considered more of a footnote. Weaned in the fertile North Carolina music scene and having worked with bands like the Woods and the Knobs whose presence on the national landscape went all but unnoticed, Anderson expanded his reach by hoisting himself from his drum stool and offering his songs to a few fellow travelers. The results paid off, albeit narrowly, when the Georgia Satellites tapped his rowdy rave-up "Battleship Chains" and made it a mainstay of their set. The Satellites’ leader, Dan Baird, extended the association by appropriating another Anderson composition, "I Love You Period," for his solo debut. Anderson himself stepped out on his own in the early ‘90s, cutting three relatively obscure solo albums up through the new millennium (You Don't Like Me, What Else Can Go Right and I'll Drink to That) until he eventually opted to transfer his talents back to the band format with his present bunch of rowdy rockers.
Consequently, the group’s second studio outing offers few surprises, and if anything, the influences are even more obvious. The no-frills brand of bluster that marks "Goin’ or Comin’" brings those Exile-era Stones influences to the fore, while the cleverly titled "You Had Me at Get Lost" is pure mid-period Faces. So too, "Lost Your Number" offers a forlorn wail that sounds like Keef or Woody taking a rare moment to sing in the spotlight. A pair of "message" songs – the overly infectious "Willie Mays," sung in homage to the achievements of its namesake, and "Pow’ful ‘Merka," a patriotic parody of sorts – offer rare moments of profundity. Otherwise, the only variation in tone – aside from a detour into pure pop realms via "About You," and "Wrong for That," a rare bit of balladry sung in a high-pitched soulful sway – is that which falls between a rant and a wail, all straight-on and unapologetic.
While most bands tend to offer their wares at odd angles, replete with studio trickery and skewered attitudes, Anderson’s intentions leave little room for second guessing. Clearly, the Olympic Ass Kickin’ Team is ready to tackle the big time.
The Olympic Ass-Kickin Team / National Champions
Jersey Beat
by Rich Quinlan
Twangy, Southern-fried, and rollicking rock n roll dominates a wickedly fun, smile-educing record from Terry Anderson’s Olympic Ass-Kicking Team. This is no frills rock n roll played in the purest sense of the word. The fun “Goin’ or Comin’” kicks off the record and the track is infectious. Fans of Petty or Springsteen will adore the earnest songwriting on slabs of Americana such as the anti-Barry Bonds “Willie Mays” (You’re not half as cool as Willie Mays”), “Is We or Ain’t We” and the hard-hitting guitar rave-up “Pow’ful ‘Merka”). The country-flavored “You Had me at Get lost” is hilarious take on a miserable relationship, featuring lines like “That restraining order really got me hot”. Terry Anderson’s warm vocals and steady drumming are the epicenter of the band’s sound while rich backing vocals make each track a densely textured slab of big hooks and contagious choruses. The bluesy “Found Missing” perfectly embodies the band’s love of rock’s earliest influences, while also providing a renovation of the classic sound. Some of the slower pieces, notable “Wrong for That” and the closing “Feel right Now” did not work for me, but when the guys plug in and elevate the intensity, as they do sporadically throughout the record, I was hooked. This is an old fashioned driving album in which each track will help the miles pass more quickly. Pick this one up.
The Olympic Ass-Kickin Team / National Champions
Atlanta Music Guide
by Al Kauffman
Everyone needs a good ass-kicking once in a while. Rock music has needed one for a good long time now. Terry Anderson, who often teams up with former Georgia Satellite Dan Baird to make up the Yayhoos, is just the guy to do it.
Like Phil Collins, Anderson is combination drummer/lead singer. Similarities between the two end there. First off, it's safe to say Anderson could drink the Cabbage Patch Doll look-alike under the table. His humor is raunchier, and he also knows his way around a guitar riff. He prefers power chords, which run rampant through National Champions.
Opening track "Goin' or Comin'" is strikingly similar to Foghat's "Slowride," but better. "Willie Mays" is actually a diatribe against the obscenely large-headed Barry Bonds, of whom Anderson sings, "While everyone in the Bay / Is drinking from your Kool-Aid / You still ain't half as cool as Willie Mays." It's a song every beer-drinking baseball fan wishes he had written, but it's something Anderson seems to do effortlessly.
His borderline misogynistic humor shines through on "You Had Me at Get Lost." In front of big, fuzzy guitars, he sings of how his girlfriend's neglect and abuse turn him on. "That restraining order really got me hot," he quips. It's all just good clean American fun.
That's what Anderson is. He's a good ol' boy, albeit one with a slightly higher IQ, who likes to rock. And he does it well. He's half Nick Lowe, half Eddie Van Halen. Check out the roadhouse rockabilly of "Missing You," or the tongue-in-cheek blue-eyed soul of "Wrong For That." But for every one of those there is a straight ahead rocker that makes you wanna hold your Pabst Blue Ribbon high as your head bops up and down. This man deserves a gold medal.
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AUDIO
Click on a clip of an audio track below to download a mp3:
terry anderson & the olympic ass-kickin team - national champions [2009]
Goin' Or Comin' [mp3] - 1.03 mb
Lost Your Number [mp3] - 1.05 mb
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