Midway through Broken Bells’ set at the 40 Watt in June, lead singer (and Shins front man) James Mercer made mention of the all the band stickers backstage at the 40 Watt. “My favorite is American Cheeseburger,” he said. “There’s really a band called American Cheeseburger? I like that.”
Jeff Rapier leads American Cheeseburger Saturday night at Slopfest
Yes, there really is a band called American Cheeseburger, and a fit description for the Athens group would be “the complete opposite of The Shins.”
A hardcore band through and through, American Cheeseburger was a highlight of day 2 of Slopfest at Little Kings Saturday night. Paced by the raging, high-intensity lyrics of Jeff Rapier, Cheeseburger tore through a festive 30 minute set, with Steve Armstrong (guitar), Joe Dakin (bass) and Jason Griffin (drums) providing the thunderous roar to Rapier’s scream. Griffin, who had the drums low to the ground, would fall and rise with each crescendo of the music around him.
I’m not the biggest metal-head around, but what Rapier was able to do with his voice is impressive. A band earlier in the night tried to scream along to a typical punk background, and it came across as screeching and lame. But Rapier, who joined the band last year, is able to keep an intensity throughout, using his voice as an instrument to accompany the chaos around him.
The guys play all the time, and are worth a watch.
