SooToday.com spent a lot of time online reading up on Sydney, Nova Scotia's Tom Fun Orchestra.
We wanted to have a bit of background before heading out to see the band perform at Arcadia Coffee House this week.
Descriptors including raucous, invigorating, epic, irreverent and bizarre have been used to illustrate the music of the Tom Fun Orchestra.
It's been compared to the likes of Tom Waits, The Pogues, Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, the Dropkick Murphys, the Brian Setzer Orchestra, the Clash - and just about every combination thereof.
While all of these references might be true and relevant, we found what front man Ian MacDougall (AKA Robot Orbison, AKA Johnny Turbo, AKA Shampoon, AKA Tom Fun) told the Arcadia audience to be the best band reference-statement in the history of band reference-statements.
"I'm sure you all already know this, but we're world-famous," MacDougall stated as the seven other band members laughed. "We are to music what Burt Reynolds' mustache is to the film industry."
Perfect.
Like the music, that statement makes you stop, listen, wonder what the heck is going on, and smile with amusement.
There's definitely a reason the band's middle name is "Fun."
It's earned it and then some.
But anything we could write could never, ever do it justice.
Instead, we encourage you to visit the Tom Fun Orchestra MySpace page to have a listen and findd out first-hand why this East Coast band is turning heads, raising eyebrows, and piquing curiosity.