Gods & Monsters in Amsterdam, May 2007 (l-r: Jerry Harrison, Ernie Brooks, Jason Candler, Billy Ficca, Gary Lucas) photo by Arjen Veldt

"THE THINKING MAN'S GUITAR HERO...AN UNDERGROUND ROCK FAN'S DREAM TEAM"
      --The New Yorker

"THE GROUP IS MIND-BLOWING!"
      --Time Out New York

"YOUR BAND IS REALLY AMAZING!"
      --Mike Lang, founder of the original Woodstock Festival, after seeing Gods and Monsters perform at the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock on October 6, 2007

Check out a rave review from Variety of Gods and Monsters live here -- and reviews of the band live at SXSW 2007 here.

Gary Lucas & Gods and Monsters live at the Milky Way, Amsterdam, 5/2007 photo by Arjen Veldt

Gary Lucas & Gods and Monsters live at the Milky Way, Amsterdam, 5/2007 photo by Arjen Veldt

Gary Lucas & Gods and Monsters (l-r: Ernie Brooks, Billy Ficca, Gary, Carole and Jerry Harrison, Jason Candler, Natasha Pliousnine), St. Petersburg, Russia 4/11/06 photo by Alexei Pliousnine (hosted by flickr)

Gary Lucas & Gods and Monsters current album Coming Clean was unleashed last year on Mighty Quinn Records in the US, Canada and Japan; on Side Salad/Universal in the UK; in France through Productions Speciales; in the Benelux through DAWA Records; and in Russia on Exotica Music; and will be released in Germany and Scandinavia in January 2008.

It has received uniformly excellent reviews worldwide, with 4 star reviews in MOJO, Uncut and Record Collector, a rave from David Fricke in Rolling Stone, and raves in Krinein (France), Crossroads (English translation), Tokafi.com and blogcritics.org. Below are excerpts from some of these reviews:

Gary Lucas & Gods and Monsters, 2006 (l-r: Billy Ficca, Ernie Brooks, Gary, Jerry Harrison, Jason Candler) photo by Dave Bias (hosted by flickr)

"GARY LUCAS IS ONE OF THE BEST AND MOST ORIGINAL GUITARISTS IN AMERICA--A MASTER SYNTHESIST OF DEEP BLUES, AVANT-ROCK AND MADRIGAL-LIKE FOLK WHO WAS A VITAL MEMBER OF CAPTAIN BEEFHEART'S LATE-PERIOD MAGIC BAND AND AN EARLY MUSICAL PARTNER OF THE LATE JEFF BUCKLEY. LUCAS IS ALSO A SONGWRITER OF ESTABLISHED INVENTION--HE CO-WROTE BUCKLEY'S SIGNATURE SONGS 'GRACE' AND 'MOJO PIN'--AND HIS LATEST ALBUM 'COMING CLEAN' MADE WITH HIS BAND GODS AND MONSTERS IS AN ACTION-PACKED INTEGRATION OF HIS GIFTS. HE PLAYS ASTOUNDING GUITAR THROUGHOUT, BUT ALWAYS FOR THE SAKE OF THE SONG."
      --Rolling Stone, 11/16/2006

"4 STARS--LUCAS' SONGS CARRY HIS CHARACTERISTIC WARMTH AND WIT...AND THE BAND--WHICH FEATURES BILLY FICCA FROM TELEVISION ON DRUMS, EX-MODERN LOVER ERNIE BROOKS' BASS, AND ONE-TIME TALKING HEAD JERRY HARRISON ON PRODUCTION DUTIES--ARE A FORMIDABLE UNIT. HIS GUITAR PLAYING IS SUPERB THROUGHOUT--WHEN HE LETS FLY IT'S BREATHTAKING."
      --MOJO (UK), 10/2006

Gods and Monsters (l-r: Gary Lucas, Ernie Brooks, Billy Ficca), NYC, 10/2004 photo by Dave Bias

"4 STARS--HIS PLAYING CAN BARELY BE CONTAINED, SPEEDING AND BURNING WITH INTENSITY AT ALL TIMES."
      --Uncut (UK), 12/2006

"4 STARS--RISK-TAKING HAS LONG BEEN A FULL TIME JOB FOR GARY LUCAS. GODS AND MONSTERS ARE A SUPERGROUP FROM THE NEW YORK UNDERGROUND IN MUCH MORE THAN NAME. 'COMING CLEAN' TREATS ALL WHO VENTURE ITS WAY TO AN UNSETTLING RIDE THROUGH A LANDSCAPE OF EXPRESSIONISTIC BLUES CREATIONS, ART-ROCK, AND BURSTS OF RAMPANT PSYCHEDELIA. REVELATORY IS THE WORD."
      --Record Collector (UK), 12/2006

Gods and Monsters has been Lucas' baby since 1989, and has featured such luminaries as Jeff Buckley and Matthew Sweet. In Gods and Monsters, Lucas' exceptional songwriting talents get a thorough workout, and with the help of Ernie, Billy, Jerry, Jason and Joe, Gary Lucas & Gods and Monsters becomes an all-out jam, blowing the roof off of virtually every show they play.

For Booking:

Panache Booking
Agent: Michelle Cable

415-246-5405
www.panacherock.com

Gods and Monsters (l-r: Gary Lucas, Ernie Brooks, Billy Ficca), NYC, 10/04 photo by Dave Bias

Gods and Monsters go for the glory at Brestkaya Club, Moscow, Russia, April 2006 photo by Ekaterina (hosted by flickr)

Envisioning a loose collective of instrumental (and later vocal) provocateurs along the lines of groups like Material and The Golden Palominos, Lucas dubbed his band of merry pranksters Gods and Monsters from a line of dialogue in the 1932 horror film classic "The Bride of Frankenstein" (mad scientist Ernest Thesiger toasts the equally mad Dr. Frankenstein (Colin Clive): "To a new world of GODS AND MONSTERS!" -- a line of dialogue that Gary sampled and played during these early shows). The group then featured two bassists, Paul Now and Jared Nickerson, and drum ace Tony "Thunder" Smith (Jeff Beck, Lou Reed, Nina Hagen).

Realizing that despite the positive response he received he would need to develop his songwriting in order to expand his audience beyond the rock / jazz / experimental / instrumental crowd, Lucas began writing his own twisted brand of art-pop songs and bringing in male and female singers (and even a rapper and scratcher!) to augment his live shows.

The results can be heard on two albums he recorded for Enemy Records, 1992's Gods and Monsters ("4 stars," Rolling Stone) and 1994's Bad Boys of the Arctic ("Lucas reinvents Led Zeppelin III," Guitar Player), reissued as the compilations Operators are Standing By (Knitting Factory) and Level the Playing Field (Last Call).

Gods and Monsters get serious at the Knitting Factory, Plastic People show, 11/13/06 (Jerry Harrison, Gary, and Ernie Brooks--not pictured, Jason Candler and Billy Ficca) photo John Bentham

Among the talented members who have passed through the ranks of Gods and Monsters are singers Rolo McGinty (Woodentops), Matthew Sweet, drummer Keith LeBlanc, Sonya Cohen, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Dina Emerson, Richard Barone (The Bongos) Jeff Buckley, and longtime drummer Jonathan Kane.

The title song of Jeff Buckley's album "Grace" and the first track "Mojo Pin" were both co-written by Gary Lucas who also played on both tracks. Both were originally in the Gods and Monsters songbook of 1991-92. "Grace" was recently named the #1 Modern Classic Album in MOJO magazine, over albums by U2, Radiohead, and others.