Contra plus band = Contraband
by Christopher Grant 
{ Dec 24th 2005 at 2:00AM }
Possessing one of the greatest
band names ever, Contraband performs music from the game Contra while playing the game on a screen behind
them. The video proclaims, "they beat the game in under 27 minutes." Our very own Ross Miller wrote,
"These guys are sick they're so good - never have had to use a continue in all the time they've done these gigs,
as far as I can tell.) There's a reason why the Konami code is ingrained in every gamer's
memory banks: Contra is hard as hell! Joystiq salutes you Contraband.(Warning: link goes directly to a .mov file)
[Thanks, jah75157]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ross Miller @ Dec 24th 2005 12:01AM
Hell yes - if you are ever find yourselves at or near Athens, Georgia (or Atlanta, for that matter), double check to see if Contraband (or their main project, Cinemechanica) is playing. You definitely won't regret it.
The ZeroCorpse @ Dec 24th 2005 2:18AM
Yes. I will regret it. Any band that plays music from the 8-bit era simply sucks. It was cute ten years ago. Now it's just plain dumb.
What's next? A band that make all their music to the rhythm of a game of PONG?
Shagi @ Dec 24th 2005 2:36AM
Electronica/House/Techno/etc... all sucks.
I remember when drugs use to enhance listening to music. Now you have to take drugs in order to listen to it. Modern music sucks. Enjoy.
Mindstormy @ Dec 24th 2005 4:16AM
I for one love this idea, who doesnt love to go rock out to one of the greatest games ever made?!?!?!
Jago @ Dec 24th 2005 5:50AM
Oh shoosh ZeroCorpse...the Minibosses and 8-bit Weapon are awesome.
Gaye Mann @ Dec 24th 2005 6:37AM
They should write a song called "Get you the hot bullets of shotgun to die"
That would seriously rock.
Gaye Mann @ Dec 24th 2005 6:41AM
Oh... did anybody notice that the disclaimer said
"The Contra video game and it's music is a registered trademark of the KonOmi group"?
80s @ Dec 24th 2005 7:07AM
I wonder if they know how to play the 'Bionic Commando' music.
jimmy @ Dec 24th 2005 7:55AM
we spent more time in college playing contra then doing anything else, that game rocks! we had it down to about 30mins to beat the game, without the konomi code! i even beat it once without a single death. this needs to come out for XBL arcade!
Bill Kiley @ Dec 24th 2005 2:55PM
Man, I think "the advantage" might be the hottest game rock band. 80's, they do bionic commando SO HOT.
check those dudes
www.theadvantageband.com
they have members of "hella", and "the eloi" as well.
Jago @ Dec 24th 2005 3:10PM
I haven't listened to the music yet for "The Advantage" (I've got some errands to run right now)...but their website is fugly.
Tim @ Dec 25th 2005 2:16AM
Yikes, I have to agree with Jago. That's one of the worst sites I've ever seen. I mean, really, that's worse than the crap from 1995. I'm gonna have to judge a book by its cover here and not even bother listening to them. If they can't even have a semi-decent site, how good could their music possibly be? And if you know them Bill, you might want to mention that people think their site is so bad they won't even listen to their music. Appearance goes a long way.
Ryuukuro @ Dec 25th 2005 2:08PM
eh... Music: not so great. Playing: way better than me (I always thought Contra was ridiculously hard.)
chudgoo @ Dec 25th 2005 7:34PM
Tim... "If they can't even have a semi-decent site, how good could their music possibly be? "
So if an accountant can't write a jingle for his business he must be a shitty accountant? Nice logic.... Do the Rolling Stones suck more because they weren't involved in the marketing/promotion? (you know, the jobs that OTHER people usually handle)
Maybe the reason their website is bad is because instead of dicking around with web design and php they are out in the studio rocking out like a *BAND* should.
....stupid....
Cinemikekanica @ Jan 3rd 2006 7:27PM
Hey. Mike from Cinemechanica here. To be honest, we didn't even know this recording existed.... as much as we try and take any live performance pretty fucking seriously, we kinda dropped the ball on this show and didn't get to practice the Contra material very thoroughly beforehand. Bummer. I'm not to stoked about our tightness ... so we're going to post a stronger version ... both visually and musically ... asap for anybody interested.
Contraband is obviously kinda rediculous. Under a microscope it's certainly an easy target, but the fact remains that live ... we have a really, really good time laying it down. And conventionally.... lay it down we do. Reading some of the comments on here about it being "cute" and "cliche" and what not... well... um. We're definately not going for cute. It's full of loud. Furthermore, if having respect for the creativity exhibitied in using the sonically crippled NES as a musical platform is cliche or dated, well then I guess I'm a pretty cliche, dated dude. The music for Contra owns. Riffs all over the place.
For the record, we are all giant fans of the Advantage. Period. Way before we started. Yes much of Contraband is patterned on their style of interpreting 8-bit tunes, and I'll be the first person to tell them that should we cross paths. The long and the short of it is that we're just having a good time with it, and its role as a much needed, stress-free outlet ... much more so than cinemechanica proper... which is pretty much all business these days. If intersted, our new record is coming out in march and details aplenty lie at www.hellosirrecords.com.
woot.