''Get Busy Livin' or Get Busy Dyin is punk rock and rockabilly group

The Kings of Nuthin' The Kings of Nuthin' was an 7-9 piece American punkabilly, punk rock and rhythm and blues band from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in the late 1990s, they released four albums and disbanded after the death of their lead singer in 2013. History ...

s debut EP, which they recorded in Boston's 7A West Studio, just like their first demo tape from 1999. The EP was released on October 28, 2000 through Reckloose Records and on March 13, 2001 through the German label Crazy Love Records.

Critical reception

In an interview with ''

Ox-Fanzine ''Ox-Fanzine'' is a monthly punk zine from Solingen, Germany, founded in 1988. It is edited by Joachim Hiller and has had many contributors. Besides its focus on punk subculture, it also covers similar genres, reviews of comics, books and films, ...

'', the band describes the songs on ''Get Busy Livin' or Get Busy Dyin'' as being dominated by a strong rockabilly influence. Studio owner Michael Caglianone sees it as 50's roots rock with a punk twist. A ''

Boston Phoenix ''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the now defunct ''Boston Phoenix'', '' ...

'' review presents their style as urban jump blues “bolstered by some tough punk attitude" and compares Torr Skoog's vocals to those of a cartoonish

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on society's underworld and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He began in the American folk music, fo ...

, while ''

Suburban Voice ''Suburban Voice'' is a punk zine A punk zine (or punkzine) is a zine related to the punk subculture and hardcore punk music genre. Often primitively or casually produced, they feature punk literature, such as social commentary, punk poetr ...

'' writes of the most tortured throat singing since hardcore punk band Verbal Assault from Newport, RI. The German

punk zine A punk zine (or punkzine) is a zine related to the punk subculture and hardcore punk music genre. Often primitively or casually produced, they feature punk literature, such as social commentary, punk poetry, news, gossip, music reviews and ar ...

'' writes that the Kings of Nuthin' offer hard, fast and dirty rock'n'roll in its purest form, which lies somewhere between

Stray Cats Stray Cats are an American rockabilly band formed in 1979 by guitarist and vocalist Brian Setzer, double bassist Lee Rocker, and drummer Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles in ...

and

The Meteors The Meteors are an English psychobilly band formed in 1980. Originally from London, England, they are one of the pioneers of the psychobilly subgenre — which fuses punk rock with rockabilly — its distinctive sound and style. "Starting in t ...

, and clearly stands out from the broad mass of

neo-swing The swing revival, also called retro swing and neo-swing, was a renewed interest in swing music and Lindy Hop dance, beginning around 1989 and reaching a peak in the 1990s. The music was generally rooted in the big bands of the swing era of the ...

and rockabilly bands. A second reviewer of the magazine describes the album as "an extremely swinging combination of punk rock from the street, psychobilly and casual, laid-back rhythm & blues" and for the German magazine Mainstage, the mixture of jazz, swing and rockabilly with street punk is simply a musical insider tip.

Track listing

All songs written by the Kings of Nuthin', except where noted.

Personnel

Musicians * Torr Skoog –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

* Justice Hubbard –

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

* Zack Brines –

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

* Spike Katz –

upright bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

* Danny Edge –

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone (sometimes abbreviated to "bari sax") is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass saxophone, bass. It is the lowe ...

* Liam Crill –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

* Chris Wilkinson – washboard Technical * Colin Decker – mastering engineer * Michael Caglianone – mixer, recording engineer Artwork and design * Alex Pina – artwork, illustration * Tony Dowers – design * Christine Allen – photography * Kate Flock – photography * Susan Slater – photography

References

{{Authority control 2000 debut EPs Punk rock albums by American artists Punk rock EPs