Daily
Nebraskan
Article: Emotional guitar works trump technical prowess
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Speaking of DIY, here’s a guy who has taken it to the next
level. The Limbs is a one-man band composed of vocalist, drummer
and guitarist John Mazzucco. He plays and sings every part
of his Tom Waits meets Bad Brains songs just as well as every
other part. At the same time. Mazzucco plays guitar like an
even more demonic Tony Iommi, and the great part is his entire
style was developed around the complex, coordinated movements
it takes to play a drum kit and a guitar simultaneously while
singing. Watching him perform is like watching a tornado hit
a volcano. It’s awesome as hell, and it will probably kill
you. Mazzucco doesn’t care how well you can play “Stairway.”
He is not afraid of you, and he will beat your ass.
-Casey Welsch
Denver
Post: Reverb
Live show review: The Limbs, Burn Sand Burn @ 3 Kings Tavern
May 27, 2009
Saturday was my second Limbs show, and it mirrored the first
in energy and talent. To call it a one-man-band, or a solo
act, or blues or rock or funk or metal, is not enough. John
Mazzucco — and his extremely talented appendages and voice
— can rip through a few styles with ease. As soon as he tore
into “Bad Anna,” something clicked in my head. Rhythms, lyrics,
the sound of that freakin’ guitar, his voice tearing up the
room — I immediately felt like someone had let the soundtrack
in my head loose on the world... To say that I’ve been lucky
to see some bands around town the last couple years that quantify
and qualify the “Denver Sound” would be an understatement.
But tonight, I again revisited my thoughts on where this thing
is headed.
-Jason Claypool
Westword:
Backbeat
Live show review: Th' Legendary Shackshakers, The Limbs @
Bender's Tavern
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
...armed with a guitar and a drum set up out of some demonic
marching band, Mazzucco began the set with a crunch that never
stopped. While relying on so little, Mazzucco somehow managed
to sound like (and I know this will be hard to swallow) a
mixture of Daniel Johnston and ZZ Top. Of course this kind
of thing can easily break down into novelty, but Mazzucco
held it together with a charm and presence... Finishing off
his set, with the crowd clamoring for more, Mazzucco played
a number that was so fierce that for a second I believed that
Sabbath was a one man band...
-Jeremy Brashaw
The
Met
Audiofiles’ upcoming show of the week -> The Limbs
September 8th, 2008
The Limbs are one part Frank Zappa, one part Leonard Cohen
and one part Modest Mouse, only with ten times less manpower...
Wild-eyed and writhing (limbs flailing, if you can imagine),
Mazzucco takes the whole sideshow aspect of his performance
to a whole new level. The Limbs are no novelty act, mind you,
but rather a brilliantly dark display of hollow-sounding and
haunting compositions backed by the busy man’s morose lyricism.
The Limbs’ new album Boo The Villain features a rather crazed,
desperate and downright creepy picture of Mazzucco that’s
most fitting of his music’s sinister nature. While Mazzucco
has an obvious sense of humor, seen not only in his quirky,
aneuristic deliverance but in lyrics that list Robin Williams
among the world’s deities, his real niche is in painful contemplation,
with songs such as “It’s Not Very Kind,” “The Story of Me
and of You” and “The Undertow,” in which the defeated voice
of The Limbs strains “If we could make a million bucks, bud,
we’d lose it in the undertow.”
-Metropolitan State College of Denver
One-man
bands, unless incredibly well excecuted, can't help but come
off as being schmaltzy sort of children's birthday party music.
The Limbs, far from the norm, is a swampy, articulate one-man
project whose music opens up a world of creepy mystery you'll
only start to comprehend. It's like he channels some rustbelt
ghost, wandering through the wreckage of a post apocalyptic
zombie world.
-Josh Vanek, Wantage USA Records
If
there ever was a band that just could not be missed, The Limbs
is it. Hailing from Denver, CO, John plays guitar, harmonica
and sings. Left Leg plays the snare. Right Leg is in charge
of the kick drum. And on hi-hat, special guest star... Guitar
Headstock. Oh, did I forget to mention that The Limbs are
a one-man-band? Close your eyes when you hear them and you'll
forget too. Better yet, keep them open and watch in amazement.
And I don't mean that kitschy, gimmicky sort of amazement
either. This music is an authentic amalgamation of blues,
rock, pop, and a touch of metal overlaid with some growling
vocals. So if you enjoy rock and an incredible stage show,
this guy does it all - literally!
-Wendy Maltonic, TotalFest Organizer
If
the Battle of Waterloo had been fought by wild apes on the
deck of a burning ship it would still not match the unbridled
spectacle of a L1MBS show. It is a singular tsunami of musical
bedlam.
-Kent Shelton, Manager - Gothic Theatre
We've
all seen 'one man bands' but this guy pulls off some death
defying act with his delivery... He's got two kick bass that
he operates with both 'limbs', and a high(hat) that he bashes
the hell out of with the head of his guitar. Sounding like
a full-blown, comebacktolife DOORS all over again, you could
just swear he is going to blow a vocal chord, and he writes
some of the trippiest tunes I've heard in some time. If you
closed your eyes, you would swear there were at least 4 band
members on stage...
-Carmen Allgood, Program Director - Rock On Colorado
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