December 31st, 2024 - Getting Someone Damp with the Tung Bandits on New Year's Eve

 

Hello and hails rockers, rollers, metal maniacs and hop heads!  Happy New Year's Eve!  Your drinking buddy the Meista here today getting a little raunchy and rocking the hell out to the kick-ass, very underrated, self-titled debut album by The Tung Bandits and a hoppy and delicious Damp 24.05 Fresh Hop Pale Ale from the fine folks at Offset Bier Company!  Hell yeah!! 

Album Info:

• Artist: The Tung Bandits
• Title: "The Tung Bandits"
• Recorded: 1990 at Audio Alchemy in Munhall, Pennsylvania and Gamut Productions in Latrobe, Pennsylvania
  Release date: 1990 / April 23rd, 2021 (1st and only full-length studio album by The Tung Bandits) 
• Record company: Deans Penis Records / Heaven and Hell Records
• Production: Jimmy Wilson / 2021 reissue produced by J. Golden and G. Shafer
• Album cover art: Basil Karas (design) and W.A. Loeffler (artwork)
• Personnel: Carmen Capozzi (drums), D.C. Cooper (lead vocals), Dean Miculla (guitars), and Jimmy Wilson (bass)
• Additional musician: WIZZ (keyboards)
• Musical style: Hard rock, rock with elements of traditional heavy metal
• Sound: Guitar-driven, straightforward, melodic hard rock with influence from bands like Dokken, Lillian Axe, and later Thin Lizzy, The Tung Bandits run was very short, but they left us this little gem of an album!  It is full of great riffs, solos, and melodic harmonies!
• Major themes: Relationships, love, desire, lust, freedom, power, rock and roll, etc.
• Tracks: 

1. "Apple Of My Eye"
2. "Don't Turn Away"
3. "Be Your Fix"
4. "Look Hard Enough"
   
5. "The Battle"
6. "Wicked Blind"
7. "Down In The Dark"
8. "Midnight's Gone"
9. "Am I Free"
10. "Back It Up"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Offset Bier Company (Park City, Utah)
• Website: https://offsetbier.com/
• Brew: Damp 24.05
• Style: Fresh Hop Pale Ale
• Serving: 16 ounce can
• ABV: 5.0%
• Ingredients: Buzz malt, wet Mosaic, freshly kilned Citra, and HBC 1019 hops
• Pour: The Damp 24.05 pours a very hazy, pale golden-yellow hue with a frothy, bright white, half finger head with good sustain and lots of sticky lacing. 
• Nose: The nose is citrusy, fruity, and slightly malty.  There are aromas of tangerine, grapefruit rind, stone fruit (peach and apricot), cantaloupe, fresh, green hops, pine resin, and light, crackery biscuit.
• Taste: The taste is like the nose: fruity, citrusy, hoppy, and slightly sweet.  There are notes of pink grapefruit juice, honeydew melon, fresh peaches, light mango, dank pine, grassy, green hops, and soft, sweet toffee.
• Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with moderate carbonation, the mouthfeel of the Damp 24.05 is very crisp, yet soft and smooth with a dry, clean, and slightly bitter finish.

Overall pairing: The punchy and aggressive, yet fruity and complex flavors and aromas of Damp 24.05 Fresh Hop Pale Ale from Offset Bier Company are perfect for the rock and roll punch of The Tung Bandits!  Those big, bright, and hoppy citrus notes are great for the fiery guitar work, while the sweeter tropical and malt notes are great for the sexuality of the lyrics and Cooper's killer vocals!

Cheers!!