Shuffle Aces: The Muffs – Weird Boy Next Door

This is one of my highlight discoveries for the year! When I first heard it in the car a couple of weeks back I immediately tracked it down and listened to it on repeat for the rest of the ride home. The Muffs’ Weird Boy Next Door has become my single of the year so far, and their SoCal punk/pop sound is so full of energy and recklessness that it still feels really refreshing. This takes me back to the raw sound of the music I grew up with…

The Muffs original formed in the early ‘90s when Kim Shattcuk and fellow former guitarist from The Pandoras Melanie Vammen teamed up with bassist Ronnie Barnett and drummer Criss Crass. A couple of years later Vammen moved on and Crass was replaced by Roy McDonald and the lineup has been the same ever since. Their most mainstream moment came when their version of Kids In America was used in the Clueless soundtrack as well as on Rock Band 2. Shattuck was almost drafted in to The Pixies to replace Kim Deal but things didn’t work out and she returned to the Muff fold.

The album, Whoop Dee Doo, that Weird Boy Next Door is from has just been released and is their first album in almost 10 years. Maintaining a sound an energy like they do is tough, especially given how long they have been around, and it has been fun to go back and check out their earlier stuff – and I certainly recommend it.

Official Website: http://themuffsband.blogspot.com.au/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TheMuffsMusic
Twitter: @TheMuffs

You can find all the Shuffle Ace tracks – although I’m afraid not this one as it’s not available on Spotify – on a Spotify playlist here.

Shuffle Aces is a series of posts that highlights a song of the week that “shuffling” has brought forth. With all the streaming services it’s not just an iPod on shuffle mode that we use to discover new stuff, but the principle remains the same: hit play and wait to see what gems come forth.