NINJA SEX PARTY
Ninja Sex Party (or NSP) is a rock comedy band that I really enjoy! Vocalist Dan Avidan and keyboardist Brian Wecht play the characters of Danny Sexbang and Ninja Brian, respectively; Danny is a silly guy always trying to hit on women (and failing), and Ninja Brian is a homicidal ninja who flips everyone off. In their various escapades, Danny and Brian have been to space, killed dragons and necromancers, and Danny often throws Brian under the bus (only for Brian to take his revenge). Chaos always ensues with each wacky song and situation they get in!
NSP has released 10 albums; 7 being their original music (one being a live album), and 3 being their Under the Covers albums where they cover various songs from the 70s and 80s. Their first album came out in 2011, and their next album is slated to come out later in 2024! In 2016, the band TWRP (who is also really good you should listen to them too) joined the band to perform their backing tracks; for their first three albums, Wecht did them himself. Additionally, NSP has appeared on various TWRP songs; such as Avidan doing vocals for the songs Starlight Brigade and Black Swan, and NSP appears on the songs The Hit and The No Pants Dance. There's a lot of overlap between the two bands!
Their music does very much involve a lot of sexual and romantic themes; their more recent albums certainly branch out a bit more but comedic sexual jokes are typically what their songs are about. There's nothing hardcore and it's all very comedic, but I can understand why some might not be very interested in their music (however I am here to convince you otherwise).
MY THOUGHTS
My friends have told me that it's surprising I got into NSP considering the, like, entire everything of the band. And though that is sort of true, I think they perfectly appeal to me; I love comedy music, I love their style, and I love the concept of their characters! I also have the sense of humor of a middle schooler sometimes. I get why their style of comedy isn't for everyone, but I do think their recent songs can be a bit less raunchy. Plus, their cover albums are really good! I dunno, they just scratch an itch in my brain and now it's my mission to make everyone listen to them. Something about their energy is very contagious to me- I mean, just watch them perform live! I even own some of their merch (namely a T-shirt and their graphic novels)!.
You may be wondering how on Earth did I get into these guys, considering that I don't really watch anything else Avidan and Wecht are involved in. (By that I mean I'm not a Game Grumps fan, sorry.) I had certainly heard of them before; when I was a kid, I was a huge Ninjago fan, and whenever I wanted to type that into the Youtube search bar these guys would show up instead. I was always kind of afraid I would accidentally click on that and get in trouble with my family. It wasn't until early July 2023 when I watched this Hatsune Miku cover of Cool Patrol by EdTheSurvivor! I loved the song, and went to look it up, and discovered it was that band that elementary school me was concerned about! Of course now I am old enough to understand and enjoy their stuff, so I went and listened to the original Cool Patrol... then I listened to all of the album... then I listened to all of their discography in a few days. And the rest was history!
FAVORITE STUFF
ALBUM: Level Up
FAV SONGS: Attitude City, Road Trip, NSP Theme Song, Dragon Slayer, 6969
I definitely think Level Up is my favorite album by NSP! The re-recordings of these songs are a million times better than the originals; the originals definitely have a charm to them but these sound more cohesive and really enhance the songs! I also really like the music videos released for this album, ESPECIALLY the one for 6969. Maybe it's because I'm a sucker for stop motion... But yeah, overall just a banger album! It's got all the NSP classics! It's not their most mature album (especially considering it consists of their older stuff), but I think these songs are all bangers. This has been my go-to album to listen to whenever, alongside Cool Patrol.
Also fun fact! Hatsune Miku can be heard in I Just Want to (Dance); Lord Phobos (the guitarist for TWRP) has a Hatsune Miku pedal for his guitar!
ALBUM: Cool Patrol
FAV SONGS: Cool Patrol, Orgy For One, Danny Don't You Know, First Date, Heart Boner
The first full album I listened to by NSP! I feel like this is one of their strongest albums, but I am also kind of biased because Cool Patrol and Danny Don't You Know are on here. Like, the first six songs of the album are my favorites! I think all the little talking segments between the songs on the album are also really silly. In general the vibes are very cool (pun intended), it's very much become a comfort album for me (by this I mean I can put it on and enjoy it whenever)!
ALBUM: The Prophecy
FAV SONGS: The Mystic Crystal, I Don't Know What We're Talking About, The Decision Part 2, Thunder and Lightning
Though this isn't my favorite NSP album, I really think it's a solid album overall! It's got a couple songs I really really like. I still think it's really impressive how they made The Mystic Crystal 12 minutes long, and not one part of the song is boring... kinda wish the fantasy theme was more prevalent in some of the songs (because it's such a silly idea) but regardless there are some total bops in here.
Side note, but I really wanna make an animatic to The Decision Part 2 someday, I don't know why but it's a really fun song to me. Total banger and the amazing sequel to the original song we needed.
ALBUM: Under The Covers: Volume 3
FAV SONGS: We Built This City, Down Under, Sledgehammer, Owner Of A Lonely Heart, Safety Dance
This is my personal favorite of their Under The Covers albums! I just think the song choices and production quality are super super good on this one. God, Dan Avidan's vocals really shine in these albums! Super impressive stuff. I like putting this album on when I'm working, it gets me energized. In general I just love NSP's takes on some of these classic songs, they feel unique enough to justify being covers!!!
Also, I adore the cover art for this album. The composition is gorgeous and the colors are so pretty! It's super appealing to look at!
ALBUM: These Nuts
FAV SONGS: I Own a Car, Let's Save The Earth, Dance 'Til You Stop, Death Metal
YAAAY the first album that's released after I got into the band! I'd LOVED all three singles that came out before the album released, and then when I heard Tom Cardy would be on the album I was immediately interested. And it did not disappoint! It's such a fun album, and I think it's one of their most consistent quality-wise. I highly reccomend any new NSP fan listen to it, it's a great introduction to them! And honestly, I'm surprised it took NSP this long to make a deez nuts joke, but I'm glad they did because it's very silly. I'm SO mature.
FAN ART GALLERY
Surprisingly, NSP is the only band I really draw fanart for! I think it's because unlike most musicians, they play character roles and I find that easier to draw. Plus, their music videos are really appealing to me and redrawing scenes I like is great practice!
July 2023; Fanart for the song Cool Patrol! It's my favorite song by them, and I'm really proud of this piece!
September 2023; A redraw of the album cover for Under the Covers volume 2! Love that album so so much
July 2023; I tried doing a fun retro-esque style for this drawing!
March 2024; Art done to celebrate These Nuts' release!
August 2023; Fanart for the song The Mystic Crystal! It's got such a cool music video!
September 2023; This album has an extreme grip on my brain good lird