The band Luxo Champ probably won't ring any bells, but fans of The Rondelles might recognize three of the members. Luxo Champ features Juliet, Yukiko, and Oakley from The Rondelles as well as some other guy whose connection to the band remains a mystery, but since he sings and does most of the guitar work, hey, great. The Rondelles have adopted the names Dragon Lady, Miss Information, and Number 6 for the band, and the singer goes by Jet Jaguar. (Bonus points to those who catch the references of the last two.)

Luxo Champ was pretty much a local band from New Mexico that had, as far as we can tell, two releases. This CD, and a 7" record entitled "Duster." The band supposedly appears on a few compilations as well, but information on them is ridiculously hard to come by.

This self-titled release has a mere six tracks and barely nears the 20-minute mark. As expected for a lot of bands with keyboards and synth sounds, the lyrics rely heavily on pop culture references and other oddities, such as Hitler's brain in a jar, why people shouldn't breed, and wrestling. The sound of the Rondelles doesn't make much of an appearance here, as Jet Jaguar tends to take over and throw his vocals and keyboard to command the mix toward an 80's New Wave sound. If you're a fan of keyboards and bands like Devo, and you should be, this is a nifty record that's worth tracking down if you can find it.

While the band doesn't have a lot of time to say much during the six tracks, they have a lot of fun saying it. Legend has it the album was "The Super 8" record label which no longer exists and only released nine items, with this CD being number six. A few online indie record stores still have this and other albums with the band's tunes, and like many great small bands we advise you to buy them because odds are you'll never have the chance to download it and it seems too obscure to ever come back in print. The cap for this release was 1,000 units and we seriously doubt that many were produced, but there were record stores in Tucson that stocked it, so who knows? It's a fun little album that, if you like the other stuff we review, you should try and get. It's worth it, because it has lines like "Monkey go out/ Try to get laid." It's all about the high-brow.

--Adam Pawlus
April 5, 2004