The New Skinny is a band of Hudson musicians with a broad and eclectic playlist that will present songs you may have heard only a time or two, or not at all, and still have you tapping your toes by the second verse. They also really know how to play to the standing-room-only-crowds they attract.
The members pride themselves on steering away from classic rock standards and having a song list heavy on good tunes that are not overplayed. Even if you don’t recognize them, they are catchy with great grooves and the audience starts liking them right away.
Once into their second or third set, you even get to hear drummer Brandon Clark switch places with main guitarist Josh
Davitch and do some rapping that you might not find on this side on the Minneapolis warehouse district. It’s probably been a long time since you’ve heard a vocalist in the St. Croix Valley rip through “Busta Move.” Lead singer Josh Lassi gets into this part of the act by playing along vocally with Clark, as they face each other and make eye contact across the stage. The foursome’s bassist is Rick Smith.
Among the highlights of their performances are Lassi’s rendition of newly popular Cage the Elephant’s first single, a song where the vocals move along so fast few will attempt it. Lassi also provides the perfect vocal texture, which is supplemented by similarly toned guitar, on Pearl Jam’s “Yellow Ledbetter,” sounding very much like his rich-voiced and renowned counterpart, Eddie Vedder, from the Seattle grunge scene (who word has it likes to hang out in the east metro and beyond). Typical of New Skinny, they soon segue into “Only God Knows Why” by Kid Rock (who’s ex James King, a woman who is an actress and model, has been spotted in River Falls).
When doing the song about “99 Red Balloons,” the guys from New Skinny rock out much more then done in the atmospheric original, and ratchet up the tempo with their gender-bending and really get animated.
An exception to steering away from often-played songs, at a recent show, was “Summer of ’69″ by Bryan Adams. This was done so people could dance, and many of them did get out on the floor.
Davitch at that gig showed versatility on his craftsmanlike guitar when a string broke and without missing a note during a rhythm part of the song, flicked the dangling end away so it wouldn’t interfere with his upcoming solo.
When Brando and Lassi co-sang “If I had a Million Dollars,” the note was held at length at the end while staring skyward, as Davitch likewise pointed his guitar straight up. The song’s lyrics had been tweaked to become a tribute to Jagermeister, incorporating Border Battle sports references for comedic value. The band was wearing two New Skinny-themed winter hats, and a pair of regular caps, one of which was thrown into the crowd — and then tossed back on stage several songs later. The thrower also tossed a drumstick, just to the right of the guitarist-now-drummer who was barely missed, and just smiled at the incident.
New Skinny has been known for their creative posters, put up around the valley, which incorporate things like “The World’s Most Interesting Man” and liquor company spokesperson, who says in them that he doesn’t listen to rock very often, “but when I do it’s New Skinny.” The posters also poke fun at the band’s name and the fact that some of its members show up on stage being just portly enough to “be real.”
New Skinny also plays shows under different names with slight variations in its lineup, most noteworthy Mount Josh More, the flyers for which display the presidents of the actual Mount Rushmore — plus Lassi’s face superimposed over one of them.
New Skinny plays in many venues around the valley, especially Dick’s Bar and Grill, Dibbo’s and Uncle Mike’s Em Pour E Yum. For their latest gigs, check them out on Facebook.

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