oston’s glam and art-rock nonet raise a glass to the late Trick Wallace with a muscular and mighty new single out Friday, April 1
We can all seem to recall where we were when we first noticed a super cool car hauling ass down the highway. And Smitt E. Smitty definitely remembers the first time he heard Patrick “Trick” Wallace perform “Big Ass American Car” live on stage.
It was more than a dozen years ago at the Rosebud Diner in Somerville, and the late musician busted out the American-made rock and roll banger as part of his set at the 2013 International Pop Overthrow. “I fell in love with this song, right then and there,” Smitty recalls. “Spot-on perfection in every way. The music, the groove, the lyrics, the whole damn thing.”
When Wallace and his band finished their set, Smitty approached the veteran Boston musician, who unexpectedly passed away in early 2023, and confessed his love for the song, telling him right there that, one day, he was gonna cover it.
That day is now fast approaching, as Smitt E. Smitty & The Fezztones rev up their glammed-out art-rock and roll engine and take “Big Ass American Car” out for a joyride on Wednesday, April 1, hitting all major streaming platforms with a wild and brash music video to come, produced by Smitty himself.
Muscular in sound and stature, with a gritty low-end bounce and a slick, cock-sure seduction in its high-octane delivery, The Fezztones’ rendition has enough gas to rival whatever rock band’s playing arenas these days.
“‘Big Ass American Car’ has Smitt E. Smitty & The Fezztones written all over it,” says Smitty with a laugh. “It truly sounds like us. Live and recorded. Once Johnny Sestito [drums] and Andrew Padua [bass] laid down that hardcore Motor City groove, everything just fell into place. Like buttah. The entire band brought their ‘A’ game and made this song come alive.”
“Big Ass American Car” pulls up on life’s highway just as a swell of summer activity starts to illuminate Smitt E. Smitty & The Fezztones’ busy year ahead. The animated and high-energy glam and art-rock brigade play The Midway Café in Jamaica Plain on July 11; head down to New York City for a gig at Parkside Lounge on July 24; and return to Smitty’s hometown for the The Detroit All-Star Garage Rock Punk Revue V at Small’s in Hamtramck on August 29.
It’s also the first new music from The Fezztones since last year’s Radio Indie Alliance chart-topping Number 1 hit “#1 Most Likely,” and comes fresh off 2022 anthem “Buzzkill Baby” getting some recent spins on The Coolest Songs in the World channel on SiriusXM’s Little Steven’s Underground Garage. That’s not to mention the release last fall of new music from Smitty’s groundbreaking Boston and Detroit post-punk and synth-pop band Figures on a Beach, their first in more than three decades.
“Big Ass American Car” also marks the inaugural release from Smitty’s new indie record label, FezzKoKo Records, which will issue this song as well as Little Billy Lost’s forthcoming April single “Under The Gun,” giving a label home to the bands that keep the tireless musician and advocate for Boston music’s motor running.
“Full disclosure, I never wanted to have a record label,” Smitty admits. “I am too busy playing in two bands, writing songs, doing art and music videos for both bands, and promoting them to the best of my abilities. But I also knew the two brand new songs The Fezztones and Little Billy Lost were going to put out were going to be the best of the best. Real game changers. These songs needed a genuine home. And hey, no more waiting on others. If I believe in it, do it.”
With all that juice, it’s no surprise that Smitty is giving “Big Ass American Car” the Fezztones treatment, marking the nine-piece band’s first cover release since dropping David Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel” in 2023. And once we take a look under the hood, we can see there’s more going on with the song than what appears out on the highway.
“‘Big Ass American Car’ is a song about the culture of cars in America, and the American culture in general,” Smitty says. “When the popularity of American-made cars started to diminish between the ‘70s and the ‘90s, the US car companies figured out they could make more money selling fewer bigger cars for more money. American cars just kept getting bigger and bigger, shittier and shittier, and costing more and more. BUT… the song really has a bigger message about the American culture at large.”
He adds: “The opening line says it all. ‘I love my country. It’s the country of more. It’s just down the block, I can easily walk, but I drive to the store.’ Welcome to ‘Merica.”
Smitty is super excited to get “Big Ass American Car” out there, and perhaps the only regret is not making good on the promise he made to Wallace back at the Rosebud all those years ago. Wallace sadly passed away back in January 2023 at the age of 69.
In the years before Wallace’s death, Smitty would fill in as drummer for the Trick Wallace Trio, allowing both musicians to get familiar with each other on a personal level, and Smitty always revered and respected Wallace’s cool, calm, and gentleman-like demeanor. “It allowed me to get to know him, and appreciate everything about him,” Smitty notes. “A full-on blessing.”
When Smitty attended Wallace’s memorial event, he ran into a close family member who relayed that the late musician knew The Fezztones had interest in covering it, and that he endorsed the idea. That was all Smitty needed to hear.
“He was one of a kind,” Smitty says. “I never met anyone as talented, loving and generous as Trick. Like myself, Trick was born and raised in the rustbelt of America. Detroit for me, and Pittsburgh for him. As a result we were extremely familiar with that hard rocking, blue collar, middle class ethos. Early on, I told Trick I wanted him to be on the recording of the song. Like when Bowie played on Mott The Hopple’s version of ‘All The Young Dudes’. He was totally into it. We both were very much looking forward to it, but as fate would have it, we lost Patrick before we could go into the recording studio.”
Smitty eventually brought “Big Ass American Car” to be recorded at New Alliance East in Somerville, Massachusetts, where it was engineered and co-produced by Alec Rodriguez.
On the recording and live on stage, co-producer and vocalist Smitty is rounded out in The Fezztones by the aforementioned Andrew Padua (bass) and Johnny Sestito (drums) alongside an all-star musical misfit cast of JoEllen Saunders Yannis (backing vocals), Linda Pardee (backing vocals), Heather Rice-Fahey: backing vocals), James Melanson (guitar and vocals), “Crazy” Eddie Nowik (guitar), and Jonathan LaMaster (violin and vocals).
“Hey, turning an already great song into a great Fezztones version was easy,” Smitty says with a laugh. “Like I do, we also loved this song so much, all we had to do was let our genuine emotions and feelings about ‘Big Ass American Car’ run wild and free through our performances. It just flowed right out of us. I knew this song was made for us. We’re grateful for the Trickster.”
And Smitty and the gang hope that somewhere Wallace is smiling down, looking out into the great American highway and seeing The Fezztones rock and roll machine racing down the highway, with “Big Ass American Car” playing loud and free on the car stereo as they barnstorm across the country – travelling by highway, of course.
“I think he would LOVE it,” Smitty concludes. “We took his already great song, and Motor City-ed the living hell out of it. I told Trick I wanted to bring that hard driving, four-on-the-floor beat you just can’t escape. Heads rock’in, feet stomp’in, and bodies shake’in. I knew all The Fezztones would take ‘Big Ass American Car’ to the next level. They absolutely did, and then some. This song not only leaps out of your speakers, headphones, or earbuds… but LIVE? Holy cannoli! This song is now one of our best moments on stage. Yeah… I think Sir Patrick of The Wallace would approve.”
And hey, when the Fezztones bust out this jam at one of their forthcoming shows, there might be someone in the audience who thinks, “Damn, I gotta cover that one, too.”
Connect with Smitt E. Smitty & The Fezztones:
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Smitt E. Smitty & The Fezztones are:
Smitt E. Smitty: Lead vocals, co-production
JoEllen Saunders Yannis: Backing vocals
Linda Bean Pardee: Backing vocals
Heather Rice-Fahey: Backing vocals
James Melanson: Guitar and vocals
“Crazy” Eddie Nowik: Guitar
Andrew Padua: Bass
‘Big Ass American Car’ production credits:
Written by Patrick B. Wallace
Performed by Smitt E. Smitty & The Fezztones
Produced by Alex Rodriguez and Smitt E. Smitty
Engineered by Alec Rodriguez
Recorded at New Alliance East in Somerville, MA
Music video directed and produced by Smitt E. Smitty
Smitt E. Smitty short bio:
Smitt E. Smitty & The Fezztones. Born and raised in Detroit. Moved to Boston in 1985. Smitty played in a great many Detroit bands including The Blind, Zero Ambience, L-Seven and Figures on a Beach. After moving to Boston, Figures on a Beach got signed to Sire/Warner Records and released music until the early ‘90s. FOAB disbanded 1991. Smitty then joined the Wax Trax label in Chainsuck, with lead singer songwriter Marydee Reynolds, until 1999. Smitty then played in Fireking until 2017, and joined Little Billy Lost directly after, where he holds down the beat to this day. Emerging from behind the drums, now is the time for him to lead his own band of musical misfits – Enter Smitt E. Smitty & The Fezztones!
