Left Field Messiah - In Praise of Bombast

A sheeny groover, Bays’ typically frenetic vocals are smoothed out while Janson lays down a sticks-in-your-head Strokes‘ian guitar line and Ruzumna creates a whole vibe with his 80’s synth stabs. It’s the epitome of what you’d want to sway to on the dance floor – KEXP

If you listen for it, a voice reverberates, pleading for spontaneity, more chaos, less thought. For Steve Bays (of Hot Hot Heat), Jeremy Ruzumna (of Fitz & The Tantrums) and Erik Janson (formerly of Wildling), Left Field Messiah is their embrace of their internal calling: a rallying cry to document their impulsive, weird, eclectic and even ugly ideas. Their music teeters between soul and dark funk in one moment, and quickly disintegrates into howling rock on the next. Their song “Fuzz Machine,” is perhaps the best example of Left Field Messiah’s ethos, with lines like “everyday I’m a wreck, cuz rock is dead” swimming between blown out 80s synth stabs, a brittle nylon guitar sample, and harmonica. In this age of endless distraction, we need to embrace our moments of internal rebellion and find a lane to express it. For Bays, Ruzumna and Janson, Left Field Messiah is that—their search for a way out.