Shitake Monkey

Shitake Monkey clearly is a trio who knows their humor: besides taking two of the funniest words in human language as their name, the New York City trio named their debut album Street Beef, after a legendary John Candy sketch on SCTV back in the early '80s. And yet, for all the goofiness of their act, these three musicians have credible real-world chops as well: DJ and keyboardist Electric Pete is Peter Wade, a noted engineer and remixer for acts ranging from <a href="spotify:artist:7aBzpmFXB4WWpPl2F7RjBe">Wyclef Jean</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1P8IfcNKwrkQP5xJWuhaOC">LL Cool J</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:2tFN9ubMXEhdAQvdQxcsma">Jessica Simpson</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2DlGxzQSjYe5N6G9nkYghR">Jennifer Lopez</a>. Bassist Johnny Rodeo is the Texas-born John Hill, who has recorded and toured with contemporary dub reggae/drum'n'bass star <a href="spotify:artist:0isKHAkxWOxFgxplUBZY04">Dr. Israel</a> and new wave revivalists <a href="spotify:artist:0zhp4z5h3Pp3GCLw0XKWZj">Stiffed</a>. And singer, guitarist, and conceptual leader Chuck Brody is Caleb Shreve, who has engineered and mixed albums for a variety of gangsta rappers and R&B stars while also producing the gimmicky hip-hop novelty <a href="spotify:artist:3MDug5YuuK0LocDNOrNRt3">Northern State</a>. Those hip-hop and R&B influences are prominent in Shitake Monkey's music, but in the way that they're prominent on albums by <a href="spotify:artist:3vbKDsSS70ZX9D2OcvbZmS">Beck</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5SbkVQYYzlw1kte75QIabH">Gnarls Barkley</a>: though partially rooted in hip-hop, Shitake Monkey is a quirky, experimentally minded pop band at heart. Their debut album, Street Beef, was released in April 2007; in an unusual move, Shitake Monkey alerted potential new fans that the album was available, in full and authorized by the band, on all of the major file-sharing networks. ~ Stewart Mason, Rovi