Tough Times Got You Down? Tell SafetySuit [Oh, the Humility]

Here’s a joke: Who remembers SafetySuit? (Badumcha!) I’m talking about the Nashville-by-way-of-Oklahoma quartet of aspiring arena rockers who, back in 2008, hoped to reach the heights of superstardom by looking and sounding like Banana Republic personified. (Badumcha!) Well, these musical suits (I call them EnsembleAsylum) are at it again — poising themselves to take a sophomore swing for the top 40 fences with their, ahem, topically titled second LP, These Times.

The album is set for release on UMG's Republic Records — the label fittingly and formerly known as Cheese Factory Records (Badumcha!) — and it drops Jan. 10. Just in time for Christmas. Not! (Badumcha!) Mark your calendars for Jan. 7, local SafetySuit fans. That's when the band is holding a pre-release-date record-release show and giveaway at 12th & Porter. (Badumcha!)

OK, that last bit wasn’t actually a joke, per se, but what is funny is how SafetySuit finds itself fit to voice the concerns of a generation looking for light in the darkness of tough economic times. The band wants to be that light. They also want you to make a video of yourself sheepishly holding up poster boards advertising your problems for the benefit of pushing their next single. But more about that in a moment.