"Each song is a different brightly colored, tightly wrapped piece of candy on Ferdinand's debut CD, Demoted to Greeter (Rubber Band Ball). Some are gushing and sweet, others bitter and lemony, while still others are salty at first, leaving an aftertaste that mutates by memory into cinnamon. 'Lively as the Day' is a tumbling carnival of cotton-candy keyboard twists and midway trickery, while the sardonic title song leans casually against Laura Smith's undulating bass throbs, in no special hurry to leave its confident, buoyant groove. During 'Any Loose Parts?', singer Greg Franco's voice trails off as sheafs of Chris Chandler's guitar accumulate like clouds, alternately stormy and reflective. Most tunes have beguiling, simple verses that shift tectonically into powerful choruses a la the Pixies and the Cure, while certain songs, 'Joining the Professionals', '2-1-93' and 'His Head in the Mouth of a Lion', evoke Wayne Coyne and the Flaming Lips' surreal, hazy dreaminess. The truth is, these loose reference points just demarcate the arrival of a gifted, idiosyncratic, intelligent songwriter in Franco, backed by a clever, propulsive indie-rock band finding hooks in unexpected places." - Falling James, LA Weekly, September 1-7, 2000
(also Year-End Top Ten pick, and featured in Village Voice Pazz & Jop 2000)


"Many of the songs on Ferdinand's debut CD, Demoted to Greeter, are by now longtime staples of the band's repertoire, bashed out at countless gigs at Spaceland, the Silver Lake Lounge, and the Garage, among other venues, by core members Greg Franco on vocals and guitar, Laura Smith on bass, and Chris Chandler on guitar. Of late, Chandler has been replaced temporarily by David Guerrero of Third Grade Teacher (with whom Smith also plays bass), while, over the years, Ferdinand has included a veritable cavalcade of drummers, six of whom appear on this CD.
But after several years of hearing these tunes performed live, Demoted to Greeter is still a surprise, containing as it does definitive versions of many of the songs, yet with so many textures and colors, from the shimmering country feel of 'Any Loose Parts?' to the unsettling, jerky funk of 'Decal Stickers'. Ferdinand's sound is difficult to pin down; one could use stock phrases like 'roots music', 'early '90s alternative', or 'guitar rock', but they really don't do the band justice. However you categorize their music, it's devoid of cliches -- except when the band is having fun with them, as on the wild sonic bombast of 'Sad Eyes From Van Nuys'.
Demoted to Greeter starts on a high note, with the bouncy yet bitter, '60s-soul tinged 'Guarantees'. Another highlight is the aforementioned 'Any Loose Parts?': At times slow and silvery, replete with lap steel, the song periodically explodes into spooky, cacophonous interludes, with Franco's voice full of dreams and grit. On the anthemic 'Joining the Professionals', Smith's bass lines make a graceful counterpoint to Franco's aching vocals: 'Joining the professional losers tonight...such a lovely feeling, no amateurs here.' The album's emotional tone (as well as Franco's vocals) veers between wistful and pissed off -- often in the same song, as in the soaring 'Costume Disappointment'.
Perhaps Ferdinand's most arresting number is 'Sad Eyes From Van Nuys'. It begins amiably enough, with Smith's bass and David Burk's carnival-like keyboard ambling along, but the song slowly builds into a ferocious, roller-coaster ride. Ferdinand's sound is like that: It evokes the open road, long freeway drives through the middle of nowhere, and then arrival. It is at times meandering and ruminative, at times breakneck fierce; this dynamic makes for exhilarating listening, and it makes for an album that wears well, a collection of songs that are heartfelt, intelligent, and off the beaten path." - Gwynne Garfinkle, New Times Los Angeles, August 17-23, 2000


"Twangy, psychedelic, punky pop from the gentlest bull in LA. Emotive (if obtuse) lyrics, propulsive bass lines and ringing guitars" -- audiogalaxy


"Honest-to-goodness Indie Rock with huge guitar breaks and sensitive guy vocals. This L.A. band of office geeks turn their corporate angst against the listener and come up with blistering anti-anthems that'll have you pumping your fists and lighting your cubicle on fire." -- listen.com


"...We'd have liked them if only for their husky-boy lead singer's Split Lip Rayfield tee. He shrieked several pissed-off songs about being pissed-off, and they frequently came off like a crunchier Wilco, full of rip-snorting Telecaster fury, among other assorted whatnots. Especially loved their humpa-humpa cover of the old Sparks tune 'Angst in My Pants.'" -- Rich Kane, OC Weekly


"Rock and roll mainstays in a sea of mealy-mouthed puke-rock bands. Ferdinand does for rock and roll what potatoes do for the Irish. So eat up!" -- y records


...SKRATCH Magazine also ran a favorable Demoted to Greeter review (some couple years after the album release) that made mention of the "charming" Laura E. Smith on lead bass; will excavate it from the yellowing archives one of these days...



Ferdinand features, mp3's & more, still out there:

garageband.com
UCLA Daily Bruin
iuma.com
ubl.com