Macaulay Culkin Forms Tribute Band To The Late Lou Reed

Originally published on PopWrapped.  10 December 2013.

In one of the best and most creative tributes to the late Lou Reed, actor Macaulay Culkin has formed a tribute band, The Pizza Underground. With Culkin on percussion, kazoo and vocals, the five person band has put together a nine track demo that is available for download on bandcamp. 

As you might expect, The Pizza Underground’s songs are all about our favorite cheesy pie. The tracks even have deliciously punny titles that play off of Reed and Velvet Underground’s own hit songs, such as “I’m Beginning to Eat the Slice” aka “I’m Beginning to See The Light.” Yes, the lyrics are a bit corny (alright, fine! They’re cheesy!) but that seems to be the point. The demo has such a nice mellow sound to it that if you weren’t listening closely you’d forget you were hearing all about pizza.

Culkin’s band mates are: Matt Colbourn (guitar/vocals), Phoebe Kreutz (glockenspiel/vocals), Deenah Vollmer (pizza box/vocals) and Austin Kilham (tambourine/vocals). The Pizza Underground, which formed in February 2012 prior to Reed’s death, recorded their demo live at Culkin’s house on November 11, 2013

The full track listing is:

1. ’Papa John Says’ (‘Stephanie Says’/ ‘Caroline Says (II)’)

2. ’I'm Beginning to Eat the Slice’ (‘I’m Beginning To See The Light’)

3. ’Pizza’ (‘Sweet Jane’)

4. ’I'm Waiting for Delivery Man’ (‘I’m Waiting For The Man’)

5. ’Cheese Days’ (‘These Days’)

6. ’Pizza Day’ (‘Perfect Day’)

7. ’All the Pizza Parties’ (‘All Tomorrow’s Parties’)

8. ’Pizza Gal’ (‘Femme Fatale’)

9. ’Take a Bite of the Wild Slice’ (‘Take A Walk On The Wild Side’)

You can listen to the demo here: