Kansas:
Rooftop Vigilantes
CITY: Lawrence
SONGS THAT GOT US: "Drew Want Dino [mp3]," "Copper is Free [mp3]"
ON THE TUBES: MySpace, YouTube
RECORD LABELS: WoodenMan, CHOMP WOMP!
WHY THEM? Out of a kinetic scene in Lawrence, the head of the class at the moment is the raucous Rooftop Vigilantes. Defiantly sloppy Midwestern rock, à la the Replacements— for whom they have an understandable boner, and whose “Can’t Hardly Wait” is in their repertoire — the RVs traffic in 100-second hook-laden punk-pop drive-bys, ascendant with a maniacal “Runaway” Farfisa organ that adds Del Shannon–ish flavor. Their debut record, Carrot Atlas, blasts past 16 songs in a glorious 27 minutes.
BONUS BIT! The RVs cryptically describe their sound on their MySpace page as like “the Texas Rangers, only with more teeth.”
