Austin Lounge Lizards

They look like a bluegrass string quintet wearing hawaiian shirts. Indeed, it's a fitting look. The music is difficult to describe with elements of folk rock, country, and bluegrass blended with just about enything.

The music is marked by multi-part vocal harmonies and intricate picking lines, but they are most well known for their satirical lyrics and will lampoon anyone or anything. Subjects range from the big political targets like Gingrich and Reagan to unknown cactus pluggers and from obscure locales like the Chester Nimitz Oriental garden in Fredericksburg, Texas to entire genres as in The Grunge Song.

Whether stemming from liberal ivory tower elitism or personal insecurities (likely both), they focus most of their attention on the intellectually challenged. This trend is noticible in songs titles like "Shallow End of the Gene Pool," and "Life is Hard, but Life is Hardest When You're Dumb," and "Didn't go College" and the album "Small Minds."

Founded when songwriting pals Hank Card and Conrad Deisler met up with Tom Pittman at the University of Texas in Austin, the group was soon joined by bassist Boo resnick of Detroit. Card most often leads the vocals, but Diesler, Pittman, and Resnick carry their share of the load, particularly on songs they each penned. Card and Diesler play guitar while Pittman splits his time between pedal steel guitar, banjo, and dobro. The role of fiddle player has had some turnover in the past decade, and is now occupied german hip-hop afficianado Korey Simeone who will also pick up a Mandolin on occasion.