Crazy Town have revealed the details for their new album "The Brimstone Sluggers", which is set for release on August 28th, 2015 through Membran. "The Brimstone Sluggers" was produced by Bret "Epic" Mazur, and is stylistically a follow up to Crazy Town's platinum debut, "The Gift of Game", which featured the #1 single 'Butterfly'. The album is set to feature guest appearances by Tom Dumont Of No Doubt, DJ AM, Madchild, and Bishop Lamont.
Spearheaded by a team of Seth "Shifty Shellshock" Binzer and Bret "Epic" Mazur, Crazy Town combined hip-hop's lyrical attitude with the grooves of an alt-rock record. The combination yielded the group a number one hit in 2001, when "Butterfly" topped the Billboard 100 and helped push the band's debut effort, “The Gift of Game”, to platinum status, main stage slot at Ozzfest, and selling more than 6 million copies worldwide. The group's sophomore effort "Dark Horse" was released in 2002 and produced the rock hit "Drowning". Whether or not Crazy Town was a victim of the changing playing field or of their own success, soon thereafter Mazur and Binzer decided to take a little hiatus and re-energize for what would be Crazy Town's third record. Most recently frontman Seth Brooks Binzer (aka Shifty Shellshock) has garnered widespread attention for his appearances on VH1's Celebrity Rehab and Sober House reality shows. Mazur went back to his roots as a Writer/Producer/remixer working with the likes of The Plain White Ts, Julien K, Hollywood Undead and many more.
Months turned to years, and it wasn’t until Mazur called Binzer to discuss releasing previously unreleased Crazy Town songs that the spark was re-ignited. If you were lucky enough to catch the band live in Europe at festivals like Rock am Ring, Novarock or Download Festival in summer 2014, you know they mean business. “After the response we got at the European festivals this past summer, I approached Seth about releasing a couple of songs we had written. At first it wasn’t at all about doing a whole new record, but the vibe in the studio was great, and a couple of new songs turned into a whole new record”, tells Mazur.
The end result is an album’s worth of material called “The Brimstone Sluggers”. “We named our new album ‘The Brimstone Sluggers’ after one of our early band names. We went back to our genesis which was alternative hip hop / beat driven music. Seth and me in the studio just having fun and doing what we do” says Bret. Stylistically “The Brimstone Sluggers” is more of a follow-up to their first album “The Gift Of Game” and is featuring several guest artists.
The first single, “Born To Raise Hell”, does not only feature guest singer J Angel, who has written for artists like Rhianna, J Lo, Demi Lovato or R Kelly, but also features scratches by DJ AM, who was an original member and DJ of Crazy Town. Being one of most well-renowned DJs in the world, DJ AM and Crazy Town were collaborating on a new record before his tragic passing in 2009.
On the following “Ashes” Tom Dumont (No Doubt) joins in on the guitar and adds some reggae vibes to the song. But Crazy Town also follow up on their hip hop roots with tracks “Ashes” and the help of LA underground rapper Bishop Lamont, or artist Madchild, founding member of hip hop group Swollen Members, who adds his rhymes to “The Keys”.
Still, they know how to do a great sing-along chorus as proven with songs like “A Little More Time” and the sweet voice of singer Koko Laroo, or “Megatron”, which was released earlier this year. “Megatron is about 2nd chances”, tells Mazur, “it’s about grabbing a hold of your life before it passes you by.” The track was influenced by social media, as Mazur was hit up via Instagram by an artist named Boondock. “He was a huge fan and we thought he was really dope as an artist. Seth and I brought him into the studio to help him with his project and ended up doing a song together called Megatron for our record. It was only after getting to know him and spending time with him that he told us about his honorable service to our country as a combat veteran of the Marines. Boondock served for eight years in some pretty scary places like Afghanistan and Iraq".
The laid-back “Baby You Don’t Know” combines the catchy Crazy Town hooks with an irresistible melody, while the album closes with “Westcoast”: A classic Crazy Town track, which has never been released before.
It took Mazur and Binzer a musical and personal journey of more than a decade to follow up on their joint creative work. Crazy Town is back.
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