We went tonight to see the Austin Lounge Lizards, one of the funniest and wittiest bands ever. It must have been at least a dozen years since I first heard Jesus Loves Me (But He Can't Stand You) on KPFT and decided I simply had to see this band in person.

I ask you, how can you resist a band that does an upbeat bluegrass version of Pink Floyd's Brain Damage? I'm not the only one who thinks they're brilliant. Consumer's Union, publishers of Consumer Reports, has commissioned them to write and perform a series of songs.

You can sample their brilliance yourself, legally and for free, at a couple of places on the web:

• Amazon has free downloads of "Brain Damage," "Boudreaux Was a Nutcase," and "Paint Me on Velvet," in their entirety
• "It's Always Christmas Time (for Visa)" (Consumer's Union song)
• "The Drugs I Need!" (Consumer's Union song)
• "The Tower" (Consumer's Union song)
• "Go Ahead and Die" (To be released in Jan. Thanks, ciaracat!)

I hadn't seen the new guy in the revolving fiddle/mandolin spot but he seems more than proficient. There will never be another Richard Bowden, I suppose, but Korey seems entertaining in his own right and the Lizards appear to have stolen him from away from The Asylum Street Spankers. The hip-hop/rap crossover that he sang entirely in German was amusing and I'm eager to see how he'll influence the band's sound. To be honest, though, given how short a show is at the Mucky Duck, I'd rather the time was used to play one of the Lounge Lizard's classic songs - or even one of their new ones.

As they pointed out tonight, purchase of an Austin Lounge Lizard CD supports 5 needy families in Austin. ;-)

ETA: Just found an excellent article about the Lizards. I couldn't manage to write a paragraph that adequately described their music. "Smartass Bluegrass" does and the article summarizes a lot of what makes me a die-hard fan.