Drums & Tuba's self-explanatory instrumental attack has few current peers. But consider the brief life of Billy and the Boingers from the '80s comic strip Bloom County, and you'll discover there is a precedent. The Boingers augmented their lineup with penguin Opus on tuba, which he brought to the audition after mistaking heavy metal for weighty brass. Since the days when Brian Wolff and Tony Nozero went by Just Drums & Tuba, the group has added guitarist Neal McKeeby and folded genre after genre into its funky beats. There's something inherently old-school about a tuba; few people fiddle with it after quitting band in high school. But by messing with the nature of the instrument, Wolff has cemented himself a place in history as rock's premier nonpenguin tuba player.
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