Just like its cover art of a funemployed George Costanza covered in chip crumbs, “Assed Out” is relentlessly lackadaisical. The new track from Staten Island band Bueno, to be released on an upcoming 7-inch, takes frontman Luke Chiaruttini’s characteristically sprawling, lethargic vocals and kicks them into high gear as he coldly laments the life-sucking drain of the big city. The song’s quick, driving beat reflects that exhausting pace as well, as Luke’s frenetic complaints approach breathlessness.
“Gotta go, somewhere to be, something else to do / Assed out on the couch again,” Chiaruttini hurriedly kvetches. When the city’s constant hustle inevitably kicks you in the rear, you end up burnt out and useless, or else respond with some gloriously dejected punk. In the vein of their patron saint, the Lord of the Idiots, Bueno has made music about nothing—but at the same time, it’s about everything. Sure, “Assed Out” is about sitting on your bum, but it’s also about what got you there: overstimulation, rushing, grime, and constant fucking complaining. And it’s about having no money—“I don’t want to be so broke,” Bueno whines—because what’s more New York punk than that?
The Assed Out 7-inch will be released July 3 on Shea Stadium Records.
