"Zingo-Zulu-Zappa-Zapp-Lulu." "I Can't Take It Any More, Get Your Finger Out Of My Ear." Confused by these sentences? Well, you might be slightly more confused to discover that they are song titles. The group? An Illinois-based, self-proclaimed alternative group, RUBBER CHICKEN KNUCKLES.

       These guys are great. Coming from Illinois, they join a long list of bands ranging from CHICAGO to THE SMASHING PUMPKINS. But you won't hear them playing "Rat in a Cage". On the contrary, they have done only one cover since their debut in 1992, and their songs have such a range that you couldn't pin a particular group's style on them if you tried. Not that they don't listen to other groups, (Their inspirations range from Gloria Gaynor to GENESIS.), but it would be unfair to say that they "sound like" a particular group. In truth, they only sound like RUBBER CHICKEN KNUCKLES.

       Their quirky sound doesn't just come out of the blue, though, the group says. "It takes alot of planning to sound this unrehearsed," says Duncan Matthews, the lead singer of Knuckles, "But it makes us wonder how good we might sound if we didn't (rehearse)." But it doesn't get much better than this group. Truly a music style that will continue to send a riptide of influence through the new century of rock.

       But, with such a sound, Knuckles are only starting to come into their own. They had years of struggle, and when they finally struck a record deal, no one seemed to notice. But for the past few years, word has been spreading slowly but surely about their unique sound, and interest in their roots is slowly growing.

       When they started, RUBBER CHICKEN KNUCKLES only consisted of the three base members, Trinity, Duncan and Devon. Bruce, the most eclectic musician of the band (Playing among other oddities the didgeridoo and the accordion) began in a group he started in high school at about the same time as Knuckles, called CRIPPLED RABBI. His group was the first to have an album.

       But as CRIPPLED RABBI grew apart, Bruce finally had a chance to accept the offer to join RUBBER CHICKEN KNUCKLES, an offer which had been made after Rabbi's album release. He has been with this new group ever since. And to listen to Rabbi's album, Little Tommy's Noseflute, one can see the vast improvement in Knuckles' sound. He joined halfway through their first album.

       That album, Invasion of the Underwear Monkeys, soon became a local hit. But it didn't spread. Why? Maybe the album title. If that was it, though, they didn't change their minds about naming them. Each following album had a name which fit into their theme of classic horror movies. Butterflies from Planet X (1993) The Giant Killer Lizard Grubs (1994), and, most recently, I Was a Teenage Komodo Dragon (1997). But the names haven't improved sales, either. 

        But, given time, hopes the group, word will spread of their sound. A sound that to them is about six years old, but will be new to every listener who hears one of their songs for the first time. And so, to RUBBER CHICKEN KNUCKLES, good luck.