What George Thorogood has done for blues, the Specials for ska and the Ramones for New York City surf music, this daring Texas quartet has done for...polkas?

Aptly named, Brave Combo takes the squarest of sounds -- polkas, rumbas, tangos, even the odd cha-cha--and fuels them with a high octane rock & roll moxie that could add a few wrinkles to Lawrence Welk's face. In "Julida," Tim Walsh blasts off with a snorting saxophone right out of James Brown's "Night Trains," drummer Dave Cameron and bassist Lyle Atkinson flex some jazz-fusion muscle and singer-guitarist Carl Finch wails with all the macho corn he can muster. Finch squeezes a mean accordion in "Peanut" (like Myron Floren gone New Wave), and Walsh blows more meaty sax in "La Cumparsita" (a.k.a. "Hernando's Hideaway") and "Perfidia" a piece of boss bossa nova.

Whereas New York's "fake jazz" band the Lounge Lizards mix art and laughs by wearing sharkskin suits and dosing Thelonious Monk numbers with No Wave noise, Brave Combo never stoops to parody, respecting the various genres while jacking up the feeling with punky good humor. Indeed, the weakest cut on Music for Squares is a relatively straight rock reading of Jackie DeShannon's "When You Walk in the Room." Future fun: the group is rumored to have a crazed polka version of Jimi Hendrix' "Purple Haze" in its repertoire. Weddings and bar mitzvahs may never be the same.

Brave Combo's address is P.O. Box 233, Denton, TX 76201

Oui
September 1981

Brave Combo is an all-too-appropriately named quartet from the wilds of Denton, Texas. Its specialty is dance music. And when I say "dance music," I mean "dance" music -- polkas, sambas, bossa novas, cha-chas. You name it, the Combo can do it. Both its vision and its chops are all-encompassing: you'll find here everything from polka staples like "Peanut" and "Julida" (sample verse: "My name is Isadore, and I like bagels/I own a clothing store, gots lots of sables") to such exotica as "La Cumparsita" and "Jugo de Pina" (which would bring a smile to Perez Prado's lips -- wherever they may be) and the "Bier Garten" blitz of "Schneewalzer," a certified "Hausfrau's" choice. And, lest anyone think that the Combo boys aren't as "au courant" as the next batch of New Wavers, there's a neat polkaized version of the Searchers' "When You Walk In The Room," not to mention the long-neglected "Let's Trim Twist Again" and the Jack-be-nimble-Jack-be-quick original "Neo Limbo." Special kudos to horn player Tim Walsh and multi-instrumentalist Carl Finch, which is not to diminish the oompah-power of bass player Lyle Atkinson or the rhythmic dexterity of drummer Dave Cameron. In fact, the only thing better than this album is the band's song list. What other group could follow "Who Stole the Kishka" with a Jimi Hendrix medley, at the drop of a bowling pin? And, yes, Brave Combo is available for weddings and "bar mitzvahs."

Melody Maker
December 5, 1981

Brave Combo are from Texas, boast a line-up comprising accordion, clarinet, saxophones, bass and drums, and a repertoire of standard dance rhythms like the rhumba, cha cha cha, tango and polka -- which sounds fine for 50th wedding anniversary parties, but hardly rock gigs.

Yet this aptly named band of young, jazz-trained musicians have combined unfashionable ballroom tunes, diverse ethnic strains and the energy and aggression of modern rock for some of the most original dance music to emerge from America this year.

Their roots stretch back, way back, to nineteenth-century Germany, and the oompah beer-hall music and accordion polka tune that were brought to the U.S. by Bohemian settlers and preserved by their descendants. These they've mixed alongside other styles and hybrids, like Tex-Mex and rock n' roll.

Their debut album, Music For Squares, is an exhilarating triumph because they've retained the character of the old music while creating something fresh and unusual.

Between the suitably rough and ready vocals, Tim Walsh's dexterous juggling of clarinet, tenor and soprano saxophones deserves special praise, as does the inspired song choice that ranges from the oompah "Schneewalzer," polka standards like "Viva Seguin" and "Peanut," and rocking re-workings of Jackie DeShannon's "When You Walk In The Room" and "Perfidia."