From the Novato Advance, 10-27-04
LEE PRESS-ON QUITS: Halloween farewell at Rancho Nicasio

For many Bay Area music fans, the scariest thing about Halloween 2004 will be this: Lee Press-on and the Nails are calling it quits.

The legendary Bay Area swing band will end its wild 10-year run with a Halloween performance at Rancho Nicasio on Saturday Night. "I've been running the Nails for ten years," said Press-on. "I need a vacation."

Press-on and his wife, Nails' singer Leslie Presley, have "retired" to Southern California to pursue new challenges. He's currently doing "sound work for the Hollywood Music Machine." She's formed her own group, Viva La Vida, which Press-on describes as a "60s Ann Margaret-inspired" band.

"Of course the best reason to retire in the Los Angeles area," explains Press-on, "is that no one will be asking me, 'Hey, Aren't you Lee Press-on?' because they're too busy asking the video store guy, 'Hey, weren't you in Whitesake?'"

Press-on started the Nails in 1994 and the band soon became known for its frantic, seemingly edge-of-control performances. "I've often compared an LPN show to rolling down a steep hill in a shopping cart," said Press-on.

The band's 10 years together included lots of time touring and the release of four CDs: Jump-Swing from Hell ("a chaotic mess"); Swing is Dead ("I'd be very happy if every single copy were destroyed in the most violent way possible"); Playing Dirty, a live CD recorded at Hollywood's Derby nightclub; and Press-on's favorite, El Bando En Fuego!, which applies the Nails' trademark style to a latin songbook.

Press-on won't rule out the idea of another band or CD at some point. "I can't stay off the stage for any period of time," he said. "It's in my DNA."

A review of El Bando En Fuego! from Atomic Magazine #13, Winter 2003
Still going strong despite a seriously waning neo-swing scene, Lee Press-on and the Nails have recently completed their fourth CD, El Bando en Fuego! (LPN Enterprises), which beautifully blends big band, swing, Latin and tango. Gone are the days of the rock-and-roll renditions of big band songs (and vice versa). Nowadays, Lee's knack for clever arrangements is the focus, as the bad boys of modern swing keep getting better with every album.

El Bando features 16 songs, only five of which are originals. The remainder are new and energetic renditions of American popular standards, all delivered with a Latin flavor. Standouts including Cole Porter's Begin the Beguine, the classic Brazil and Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen, as well as It Had Better Be Tonight and Coax Me a Little Bit, both of which feature the lovely Leslie Presley on vocals. Keeping with Lee's daffy playing style and showmanship, LPN also performs renditions of Pink Elephants On Parade (made famous by the Disney movie classic Dumbo), Wall of Voodoo's early 1980s hit Mexican Radio and Cole Porter's Well Did You Evah.

Out of all the modern swing bands of the 1990s, LPN unquestionably prevails over the rest. With every new release one hears a clear progression of innovative writing and arrangements. Add this one to your collection of new favorites. - Smilin' Budda Joe

A review of El Bando En Fuego! from www.jazznow.com, 3-01-03

They leer at you from their press release like a bunch of unhinged second-hand car salesmen - and that is just the start. This is a sort of Spike Jones meets Mexican Music Hall; a dizzying, deranged cacophony of fun; an infectious blast of Latin swing and slapstick. I actually laughed out loud; when was the last time you were able to do that to a Jazz CD? Let's not forget that they also play music, real heavy on the horns; these guys do not hang back, they are earthy, organic, and they do seem to genuinely have a good time. They romp through Begin The Beguine and Brazil with all the finesse of a demented Latin American steam-roller; the numbers swing superbly to great arrangements and a Latin rhythm. It Had Better Be Tonight, a Henry Mancini tune, is sung by the sensuous Leslie Presley, doing it again in Coax Me A Little Bit, a precious flower alone amongst all that beastly manly mayhem; the poor thing. This CD is a magnificent pick-you-up; I quote, 'Be merry, we're all gonna die anyway'. Just don't buy a car from them. - Ferdinand Maylin

Ask yourself. When was the last time you had fun, I mean really had fun, listening to a CD? If it's been a while, then treat yourself to El Bando En Fuego! by Lee Press-on and the Nails. This little treasure is a kicky blend of schlock and sophistication. It is impossible to accurately pidgeonhole El Bando En Fuego. Think Spike Jones meets Xavier Cougat.

LPN's ten members turn out a great sound led by the solid playing of Lee on organ, theremin and marimba. Lee's irreverent personality shows in his interpretation of such standards as Begin the Beguine (a song that has never been one of my favorites, but in this particular rendition was enjoyable), and Brazil(performed on the theremin).

Besides Lee, the other shining light in this offering is vocalist Leslie Presley. It goes without saying that she has a wonderful voice, but that wouldn't be enough to make her stand out. Add to the voice a solid understanding of the music and you get something special. Coax Me A Little Bit is a prime example of Leslie at her best.

The real purpose of covering standards is helping listeners appreciate LPN's original fare even more. These songs offer some of the most original lyrics out there. "La Brea Tar Pits...where nobody's dreams come true" comes to mind. - Barbara White

A review of El Bando En Fuego! from the Midwest Record Recap, 12-28-02

One of the prime movers of the West Coast swing revival shows that he's going to soldier on in the underground like other faves Lavay Smith, et al. (El Bando En Fuego! is) a totally crazy, undisciplined romp through Ricky Riccardo style Latin music loaded with post modern irony, great musicianship and general looniness. As long as you have a sense of humor, you will appreciate this record to the max. - Chris Spector

From the Official Damned Website, 11-7-02
The Damned roll on & DV presses on...

The Damned have now completed the US leg of their current tour and are now preparing for some dates in Spain followed by a tour of the UK before the end of a very busy year. Full details over in Dates. Your last chance to catch The Damned in 2002. Get them while they're HOT.

In the meantime Lee Press-on and The Nails have released a new studio album which features David Vanian. DV performs a duet on one of the songs. It's wild swing music and he and Leland did a version of Well Did You Evah? - the original is Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. It came out great! Is there anything these guys can't do?

From the Pacific Sun, 10-09-02

With a bandleader who looks vaugely like Satan, it should come as no surprise that the latest album by Lee Press-on and the Nails is titled El Bando En Fuego! (the band is on fire!). The irrepressible Mr. Press-on and his bandmates have kicked their customary stylistics up a notch, exploring the territory of "Hollywood Latin." Their fun and frenetic journey takes them through upbeat jazz and swing originals, Big-Band standards and latin selections. Longtime Bay Area faves, the horn-heavy 10-piece band always delivers a manic funhouse of musical entertainment. - KB

A review of Playing Dirty from Atomic Magazine #8

There must have been one hell of a party at The Derby in Hollywood last August during the recording of Lee Press-on and the Nails' latest CD, Playing Dirty. LPN's second release this year (following Swing is Dead) and their second live recording (after 1998's Jump-Swing from Hell), Dirty continues in LPN's gothic-swing tradition - but something is different. The musician shakeup of two years ago that left the band's continuance in question actually proved a good move. The Nails of the new millennium are more mature, both lyrically and musically. Lee Press-on and the Nails is now more dancer-and-listener-friendly, while at the same time retaining their playful wackiness.

Playing Dirty relies on mostly new songs and works off of Swing is Dead, where Lee refined his lyric writing with the brilliant Hat Back Boogie and That only Happens in the Movies. The latest album keeps up the band's spooky reputation with songs like Raymond Scott's Devil Drums, the Cab Calloway tune Ghost of Smokey Joe, and the cowpoke classic Ghostriders in the Sky. But the new and improved LPN, while keeping true to their dark side, also are not afraid to get a little goofy on Cocktails for Two, a ditty that would make Spike Jones proud, and Elvis Costello's Wave A White Flag. White only goes to show, Goth kids like to cut loose too. - Smilin' Buddha Joe

From the Novato Advance, 1-11-01
"Pressing On"

Think of it as Benny Goodman meeting a campy Count Dracula. Or Gomez Addams taking up crooning and thrashing about onstage.

Lee Press-on and the Nails, led by none other than Lee Press-on, will be celebrating the release of the band's newest swing CD, Playing Dirty, with a free concert and CD signing even on Friday, Jan. 19. The 8 p.m. party featuring Press-On's irrespressible showmanship, takes place at Borders books and Music at 588 Francisco Blvd. West. in San Rafael.

The occasion also celebrates an American tradition - Jazz; January is Jazz Month. This program is appropirate for swing and gothic music lovers of all ages. Lee and vocalist Leslie Presley who is also his wife will be backed up by the 10-piece band.

For more information call 454-1400.

From the News Pointer, 6-21-2k

Who is this strange creature, leaping around and off the stage, dressed like some kind of vampire and wearing gothic makeup while alternately crooning and screaching into the microphone? Why, it's Lee Press-on, leading his Nails through another concert.

Lee Press-on and the Nails is possibly the world's only spooky swing band. The song titles from their newly-released second album, Swing is Dead, include Devil Drums, I Prefer a Coffin, and Ghost Riders in the Sky. But unlike many of the swing bands that popped up during the swing craze that began in 1997, the Nails aren't "scene hoppers," bands that adjust their music to the current trend.

"We've been around since 1995, before the craze hit," said Lee Press-on, lead singer and founder of the band, "and we're going to be around a while longer, even as the craze is dying down. It has thinned out, but there will always be an audience for this kind of music."

Lee Press-on, obviously, is not the singer's given name.

"The person Lee Press-on is comes mostly from my own personal affectations taken to an extreme," he said. "I've taken influences from old Betty Boop cartoons, which were remarkably sinister back in the old days."

He decided to form a band, bringing in friends with musical ability, who then brought in their friemds, and so on.

Since its informal beginnings, the band has become a much more professional group, holding auditions for new musicians and dealing with club owners, bookers and other bands. But they still have a grass-roots feel, booking their own interviews and practicing in a storage space across the road from San Quentin State Penitentiary.

The Nails have played concerts with mainstream bands such as Smashmouth, the Neville Brothers and No Doubt, as well as some of the most well-known swing bands of today, including the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, Brian Setzer and Big Bad VooDoo Daddy.

Big Bad VooDoo Daddy was featured in the 1997 film Swingers, which is credited in large part for starting the swing craze. Shortly after the film's release, swing clubs began opening everywhere and urban 20-somethings were seen wearing zoot suits and suspenders with alarming frequency. But along with the trend came more opportunities for LPN.

"The band was mostly for our own amusement until the craze hit. It suddenly became easier to find gigs," said Press-on, who lives in Greenbrae. "We started playing at the Hi-Ball Lounge and Café Du Nord (both in San Francisco), then as word spread we got gigs all across the country."

The group's longest tour to date was a 14-day tour of New York, and they still play many shows in Southern California. "We've gotten to know Interstate 5 very intimately in the past few years," said trombone player Bob Thies.

One of the highlights of the band's history was a show at the annual Exotic Erotic Ball in San Francisco. Known as one of the wildest parties on Earth, the Ball seemed like a natural fit for the band's style.

"It was like, here's the band. And we come out and see the audience full of naked people, leather people, fetish people. My people. They seemed to get our gimmick and rocked out to the music," Press-on said.

The band's gimmick, while seemingly at odds with the music they play, is an extention of Lee Press-on's stage appearance and persona. Looking like a souped-up version af Gomez Addams, he turns into a wild man, running across the stage and interacting with the audience. He sings with his wife, Leslie Presley, and writes the majority of the group's original songs. But he came to swing music only after flirting with more likely tunes for someone who dresses all in black.

"I used to hang out with the gothic kids, listening to death metal and industrial rock. One night I was in a goth club and suddenly thought, 'Gosh, some of this music really sucks'," he said.

The group's music is what Thies describes as "the wacky 20s mixed with Cab Calloway, Count Basie and the Benny Goodman band."

"It's the music that Lee wanted to play, and he brought in people who wanted to do the same," said Thies, who lives in Larkspur.

The band performs in traditional swing garb, mostly zoot suits in dark colors to go with the slightly gothic theme. But there is little menace to this seemingly dangerous band.

"In reality, we're about as scary as a Scooby Doo cartoon. Our gimmick has paid off, but it may scare people away if they don't listen to us before making up their minds," Press-on said.

Although the swing craze seems to be dwindling, Thies thinks the band can survive for several more years.

"We'll keep doing this as long as it's finacially feasible. We love this music and want to expose it to as many people as possible. Besides, I think we've got at least one more CD left in us." - Jared Green

While many of the other neo-swing bands have died, Lee Press-on's band lives on with Swing is Dead. This CD is great improvement over their last effort. Much tighter performances from everyone. Great variety of songs here, from the cowboy Ghostriders In the Sky (155 BPM), to the spooky Dark Half (139 BPM), to a waltz/swing song. Most, but not all songs are in the clever death theme. Complete with interesting liner photos. When I DJ I play That Only Happens in the Movies (148 BPM). Hat Back Boogie (201 BPM) is also fun, with lyrics "... you can keep all my CDs, I just want my hat back!" This band is probably more of a performance band than a dance band. But there's a great variety of songs and tempos on this CD, and everyone, dancers and listeners alike, should be able to find something they like.

From the San Jose Metropolitan, 2-10-2k

Divided into three acts, this 14-track album opens with an ominous thunderstorm full of forbidding organ music that creeps into Waltz of the Damned with freakish carnival music that descends into cackling madness. LPN describes its music as Jump-Swing from Hell and the band whips up monstrous psycho-swing charged with demonic energy. Deviating from typical swing with Dixieland nuances (Mississippi Darling) and outlandish rock & roll influences (unleashed with a screeching guitar solo on the dramatic thriller Maelstrom), LPN is the embodiment of Swing's dark side. It smoothly splices its original material (That only Happens in the Movies, I prefer a Coffin) with older obscure cuts like Stan Jones' dusty cowpoke ditty Ghost Riders in the Sky, Raymond Scott's instrumental Devil Drums, Sam Coslow's Boogie Man and Elvis Costello's Wave a White Flag. Though the band's image is spooky in a campy Munsters/Addams Family way, LPN takes its lively music seriously and leads its listeners on a wild ride. The album also contains a bonus cover of the Rolling Stones' Jumpin' Jack Flash. - Sarah Quelland

Like other hapless young'uns who stopped understanding jazz after Bop changed everything, I'm drawn to Swing like a moth to a flame, and I get burned just as often, what with the bombast, uber-cats and Sinatra schtick that rule the roost. Whenever I hear someone say "slam-swing" or "ska-swing" I shudder - no fan am I of the post-punk lindy hop fad per se, though I'm fond of the hoary sounds these tattooed combos mimic. But Lee Press-on and the Nails can be excused a dollop of excess as they drive home Swing of a much more sinister sort, with an Addams Family aesthetic, crazed stage antics and a strong, solid sound.

The Marin combo's new CD, Swing is Dead, released a few weeks ago, starts with creepy haunted house thunder and organ and far off bells, but quickly launches Waltz of the Damned, a propulsive original moving from a seedy carny oompah waltz to a pounding Swing barrage and back again. Press-on yowls and growls about the Dark Half in a moody and meandering original, and vocalist Leslie Presley keeps the tone creepy-crawly in the therimin-haunted lounge-noir Shadowman teased by stand-up skullduggery by bassist Michael Rogers and Trap Tapper Andy Eberhard. Press-on and wife Presley deliver Elvis Costello's murderous Wave a White Flag like They Might be Giants as an old time lounge act, with tinny trumpet by Charles Ferris. A goofy cartoon arrangement of Stan Jones' Ghostriders in the Sky somewhat recalls the Blues Brothers performance of the old Rawhide theme, and Press-on's instrumental Maelstrom is a raucous rock barrage with screaming guitar and squawking horns. The Dixieland trifle I prefer a Coffin conceals some impressive big band dynamics behind its goofy facade.

There's a lot more here than just schtick. The jumpin' jive Big Pants Dance swings in classic style, with the big-city brass wailing. Steve Lucky of the Rhumba Bums steps in for some serious boogie-woogie piano on Press-on's crazy-catchy Hat Back Boogie. The band negotiates Raymond Scott's typically madcap 1936 instrumental Devil Drums with seemingly the same ease as Sam Coslow's teasing 1934 novelty Boogie Man. Presley's pleasant voice delivers sax man Larry Sweeny's torch song He's still a Mystery to Me with a wistful air, and Press-on croons against cine-clichés in his clever, schmaltzy That Only Happens in the Movies. Sweeny's Mississippi Darling weds thunderous swing to Mardi Gras music and Delta slide guitar to marvelous effect.

Still, be afraid. Be very afraid. - Sam Hurwitt

Until this disc found its way into my CD player, I cannot remember the last time I had so much fun listening to music, and THAT is the bible thumping truth. The spirit and energy these cats put into the shows recorded here are unmatched, I only wish I could have been there. Humor, drama, passion, mystery and more are all played out on the high-wire and death defying musical trapeeze act of The Nails. THIS is the spirit of modern day swing, runnin' straight at 'cha with no brakes.

From the Daly City Independent, 8-14-99

Zoot-suited saxophonists with cowboy hats and toy guns, rubber chickens flying into the audience, and an eerie bandleader emerging from smoke aren't what you'd expect from a swing band, unless the band is Lee Press-on and the Nails. Their high-energy unpredictability combined with a seamless big band sound featuring classic and not-so-classic swing tunes,makes for a novel dose of swing band entertainment.

Often compared to Gomez Addams and Beetlejuice because of his ghostly pale skin and dark features, Lee Press-on would look like a villain from an old black-and-white thriller if it wasn't for his exaggerated zoot suits.

Between Press-on's outlandish appearance and the band's theatrics and on-stage quips, they might be mistaken for a vaudeville act. But a lively rendition of Louie Prima's Sing Sing Sing reminds you they're not.

Press-on explains the band's unusual blend of spookiness and humor as an effort to capture the historical context of the swing era.

"In the 30s, a lot of spookiness was prevalent. Cab Calloway sings about it. It's in the Betty Boop cartoons. There was a lot of stuff that was just really surreal and weird... in the early cartoons, their goal was just to show things that you couldn't see in real life... that's what we're trying to do."

While the band's antics may sound distracting, Press-on emphasizes that the music comes first. "if we don't play the music properly, then everything we pile on top of it won't work. At the end of the day, it's always the music that's most important."

Their repertoire includes swing standards and originals, swing variations of contemporary songs (like Van Halen's Hot for Teacher), and songs featuring Leslie Presley, Press-on's wife.

Press-on discovered Presley's talent when he heard her singing on her home answering machine. His reaction to her voice took them both off guard.

"I heard her sing for the very first time and I went, Oh My God! And I yanked her kicking and screaming into the band." Presley, who refers to Press-on using his real name Leland, says their working relationship is a "hoot."

The Marin-based band, who performs an average of four to five times a week, perform regularly at clubs like the Backbeat in Santa Clara and Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco. During the summer months, they can be seen at fairs and festivals throughout the Bay Area. Though it isn't easy performing in four-piece suits in midday heat, outdoor fairs and festivals definitely appeal to the band.

"I love playing outdoor gigs because we play to a crowd that we wouldn't normally play to," said trombonist Bob Thies. "A lot of kids come to these shows that can't get into clubs at night... we try to aim our humor toward some of the little kids and try to make it more broad so it's accessible to everybody."

Despite some negative criticism, which has caused the Nails to jokingly refer to themselves as "the misfits of swing," the band boasts a Bammie and a Whammie and has sold over 15,000 copies of its first CD, Jump-Swing from Hell.

They are currently recording their next CD, which will feature more original music and more vocals from Presley. While the Nails are certain that swing music will always have an audience, they are hoping that their next CD will reach listeners beyond traditional swing fans. - Carrie Lozano

From the Santa Cruz Sentinel, 6-25-99

You knew this was going to happen. You knew when big-band swing came back into popularity in the early 1990s, it wouldn't look like Tommy Dorsey forever, that it would somehow go postmodern. If you had sense of how popular culture evolves, you would see Lee Press-on and the Nails coming, slouching towards squaresville.

The popular Marin-based swing band invades the Cocoanut Grove Saturday on a wave of buzz from clubs up and down the West Coast. Front and center is bandleader Lee Press-on, a garishly theatrical figure decked out in cartoon zoot-suits, leering like a lost villain from the old "Batman" series (The Swinger?). Press-on (he keeps his Christian name in his pocket) calls the Nails' brand of pumped-up big band style "Jump-Swing from Hell," appealing to the younger crowd's taste for putting a campy twist on classic American entertainment.

"The most direct sources are the early Betty Boop cartoons and Cab Calloway," said the dapper frontman on the origins of the Lee Press-on persona. "You look in those old cartoons and spookiness reigned. There were dancing skeletons and zombies."

But for all his mock Beetlejuice menace, Press-on is adamant that his band pays proper respect to the standards that make up the swing idiom. In an aesthetic philosophy strikingly similar to our own Shakespeare Santa Cruz, the Nails are always toying with their image and their stage show, but they let the music speak for itself.

"All these theatrics are laid on a solid musical foundation," said Press-on. "We do alot of zany, nutty stuff but there is always an underlying respect. This is American Classical music."

The Nails are also not limited to Press-on's image. Sharing the spotlight - sort of playing the dazzling trapeze artist to Press-on's circus clown - is the sultry vocalist Leslie Presley, Lee's off-stage wife who handles not only swank ballads but bright up-tempo numbers as well. "We're all a little more glamorous with her around," he says. "She gives us an element of class."

As proof that Lee Press-on and the Nails (a.k.a. LPN) is more than a novelty act, the band can point to its honor of winning a Bammie - the famous Bay Area Music Awards - as the top swing band in Northern California in 1997.

The band's debut disc "Jump-Swing from Hell: Live at the Hi-Ball Lounge" is a cult favorite and the Nails are putting the finishing touches on a new album to be released - appropriately enough - near Halloween. "Instead of the same old standards, we're going to be doing some more obscure material from the 30s. It will be really cool."

The 12-member band's repertoire is in keeping with its grafting of traditional swing and contemporary irony. Louie Prima's Jump Jive and Wail (the Stairway to Heaven of big-band jump swing) shares time with a brassy, over-the-top version of Van Halen's notorious Hot for Teacher. Cab Calloway is often evoked in everything from the spooky Ghost of Smokey Joe and Caldonia to Calloway's signature song Minnie the Moocher, not to mention hoary crowd-pleasers like Pennies from Heaven and I've got the World on a String.

However tight the arrangement, however respectful the band is to swing's history, Lee Press-on and the Nails still carry a reputation as one of the more outrageous stage acts on the club circuit. The seven-horn men behind the cadaverous Press-on and lovely Ms. Presley often play along with the bandleader's taste for outrageous theatrics, which have included everything from arriving in coffins to spitting blood at each other. How many other swing bands will occasionally bring out a mowhawked bagpipe player?

Still, Lee Press-on is the main show. His carefully tended image borrows widely from pop-culture iconography. There's a little bit of Gomez Addams, a dash of Fishbone, a smattering of Groucho Marx, a hint of the Joker from "Batman" and a generous dose of Cuban Pete, the maniacal, id-driven alter-ego of Jim Carey in "The Mask." This sinister group of character types has, naturally, not gone over well with all jazz purists.

"I've been called everything but a reuben sandwich," said Press-on wearily, outlining some of the more pointed attacks. Still, he believes the band is appealing to two distinct groups who would not otherwise meet each other in the same club: old-time swingers and millennial Goths.

"We've got both a lot of under-20 folks and a lot of over-50 folks coming out," he says. "There are always two or three hard-core goths in the crowd, looking around not quite knowing what to make of the swingers. I love that, but to me the best thing is to find some woman in her 70s who loves our music and remembers how the old bands used to do it. To the real fans, the Swing's the thing." - Wallace Baine

From the Tacoma News Tribune, 10-30-98

Lee Press-on makes spookiness swing. The San Francisco-based musician doesn't just have the vintage clothes, slicked-back hair and the ever-so-dandy pencil thin moustache. He's got goth-pale skin and a devilish attitude that helps him come off like a cross between Gomez Addams and the Joker.

"I do have a sort of a lord-of-the-undead quality, and that's always fun," he said, laughing. "Actually, I've toned it down over the years." Needless to say, the Halloween Season is a busy time for him. He and the Nails will play in Seattle on Saturday, then truck on down to Tacoma for a Sunday Night show.

It'll be a Jumpin' Swing Weekend at the Crystal Ballroom, a great place for retro fun. There will be recorded music with a disc jockey - and a costume contest - on Saturday, then the concert Sunday. And promoter Arlene Knight said she is planning shows there for the next several Saturdays.

The swing resurgence has been kind to Press-on and his band. "We're very grateful for the trend, though it had nothing to do with our getting together and playing," Press-on said. "A lot of swingers like to grumble, but we figure it gets people out there." The Nails formed four years ago, well before Swing started catching on. "Suddenly we're hip," he said. "Suddenly, songs we're playing show up in Gap ads."

The song in question is Jump, Jive & Wail, the Louis Prima classic that fuels the kids in khakis. Jump, Jive & Wail has also become a hit for the Brian Setzer Orchestra. "That song is the Louie Louie of swing," Press-on said.

His band's image has been described as "sinister," "frenetic" and "a circus," but under all that pancake and attitude is a real devotion to the music. "We try to make sure everything is historically accurate and avoid sounds that couldn't be made in 1935," he said. "A lot of bands approach the material thinking, 'What would Vic Damone do if he was alive today?' We look at it like, 'What would Trent Reznor do if he was stuck back in 1935?'" (see note)

He would probably play the therimin, as Press-on does. That's the odd instrument (invented in the 20s) that provided the spacey sounds in the Beach Boys' 'Good Vibrations.' Press-on can't really play it at shows, because the heat of the club throws it off. But he emphatically promises that there will be therimin on the band's next album, which is in the works. The band's first disc - Jump-Swing from Hell - was recorded live and features a mix of originals and standards such as Cab Calloway's Caldonia.

Press-on and the Nails have taken some heat for playing fast and loose with the form, but if you listen closely, you'll find their music is surprisingly respectful despite their wild image. "We're closer to the genuine article than a lot of what's out there," Press-on said. To people who have a hard time getting past the look of the band, Press-on likes to point out that jazz and swing weren't always respectable. In the 30s, jazz was played in brothels and opium dens. "I thought, why don't I just become this coked-out zombie?'"

He'd already had experience with the ghostly goth look from "moping around spooky clubs" in the 80s. Doing Goth-swing helped him combine that with his longtime love of jazz. The Nails started out small, playing for handfuls of rockers who didn't quite know what to do with them.

"Our first gig, we only had two horns," he said. "We knew two wasn't enough, so we went to three, then four, then five and kept liking the sound. Now we're up to seven horns, and I think we're at the ideal number."

Press-on does most of the singing, but his wife, Leslie Presley, is a featured vocalist. He said he knew her for years, then invited her to join the band after hearing her sing a little song on her answering machine.

They've been married for two years, and all the attitude leaves his voice when he talks about her. It's pretty sweet for such a dark character. "Just keep it under your hat," he said. - Stephanie Simons

note: Since this article was published, I found out that Vic Damone is still alive today. Sorry Vic! - LP

From the Sacramento Heritage Festival program, 5-31-98

The most feared jump-swing band in the Bay Area, these guys desecrate your grandfather's standards, nail them to the wall,then slink back to their coffins for a recharging. Led by the maniacal, cartoonish Press-on (the Zoot-suited, gothic gangster with the slick black hair and a pencil-thin moustache covering a devilish grin), this 10 piece circus (with horns a-thrashin') has been known to strip down to their boxers and bash each other onstage. A combination of Cab Calloway, Gomez Addams, and the Joker, Press-on reminds us that Swing was the punk rock of its day; dangerous voodoo, unfit for decent women and children. Their motto - Swing or Die!

From the Marin Pacific Sun, 1-21-98

"There are those in San Francisco who accuse us of being impure when it comes to swing," vocalist Lee Press-on said of his band, the Nails. "There are people who accuse us of desecrating swing rather than glorifying it. We must plead innocent to these charges," he insisted, bringing out a mohawked bagpipe player to join the band in a rendition of Louis Prima's Jump, Jive & Wail.

"We'll be bringing out the castanets and the didjeridu a little later on," he said impishly.

It was Saturday Night in the seeming swank, scarlet-walled speakeasy, as Lee Press-on and the Nails backed Jay Alexander's New Swing Circus at San Francisco's Broadway Studios Theater. Gazing down from the balcony at the sea of fedoras, suspenders and cocktail dresses, I saw the Nails' sinister headman, his hair slicked back, deck out in a black zoot suit so oversized it made him look four feet tall. A long watch chain almost touched his white spats. Behind white stands marked LPN in elegant deco letters, his 10-piece band revved up the crowd with a reverent version of Raymond Scott's frenetic Powerhouse, slamming its way through the piece's labyrinthian cartoon passages.

In a red zoot suit and top hat, emcee Jay Alexander welcomed us to "Trick City," where "it's a crime not to be hip." Alexander's classic magic tricks and snappy patter were abetted by a slapstick tap routine by Wayne Doba, a lithe Cirque du Soleil-bound woman dancing up and down a rope to a steamy version of Cab Calloway's Minnie the Moocher, and Miss Ginger Snap's impressive hula-hoop dance. The circus soon subsided, but the show had hardly begun. "Get those chairs off the floor," Press-on commanded. "If you leave this joint, we'll hunt you down and kill you."

The crowd was more than ready to swing; during the intermission about 40 couples lindied to prerecorded swing tunes.

A toe-tapping cover of Calloway's We the Cats (shall Hep ya), with some powerful seven-horn brass broadsides,followed a sped-up version of Woody Herman's Caldonia which had Press-on leaping and leering ghoulishly. The sound system started giving them trouble during Pennies from Heaven, a stale chestnut made fresh by LPN's stage antics, but the Nails soldiered on. Their version of Calloway's Jumpin' Jive was definitely mellow, but they were just gearing up for Prima's Sing Sing Sing - sparked with bits of It don't Mean a Thing (if it Ain't Got that Swing) - which they laid into savagely, opening with a throaty scream.

A circle opened up for adept swingers to show off with high kicks and flailing legs, tossing their partners into the air. The song spilled out into a slower showcase for soloists, including Larry Sweeny playing a slow and sultry solo on clarinet, culminating in bits of If I were a rich man and Carmen. The horn section donned Shriners' fezzes for a wild closing version of Prima's Just a Gigolo/I ain't got Nobody, jumping around like House of Pain. Even I couldn't help singing as my bobbing foot polished the railing to a high shine.

This isn't the swing Grandpa jumped to, but if the Nails play fast and loose with traditional sounds, it serves only to restore the music's dangerous edge the modern ear no longer hears. I say let those boys boogie-woogie. - Sam Hurwitt

From the Metro Santa Cruz, 1-7-98

Lee Press-on and the Nails is a brass-blasting band that swings like a pit bull from a postman's arm, and all the members have nicknames to prove it. Lead singer Lee Press-on resembles a goth-punk with a caffeine habit caught in a time warp and forced to form a swing band in order to get home. Good thing for us the band came with him. Those 10 San Francisco boys have been dropping jaws all over the greater Bay Area. Did I say boys? There is also featured vamp-vocalist Leslie Presley (no need for a nickname there) giving Lee the occasional much-deserved break. - JP

From BAM Magazine, 12-19-97

Blame it on San Francisco's incestuous cross-mingling of scenes, which could only occur somewhere with the combination of big-city sophistication and small square mileage, but we've got types of swing never even heard of in other parts of the country. With swing music to be heard every night of the week, you can take your pick of classic big band, jump-swing,Latin swing and even swing covers of old '80s tunes.

Take Lee Press-on and the Nails, for example. A staple of the swing scene, with weekly slots at such jumpin' gin joints as the Hi-Ball Lounge and Cafe Du Nord, the Nails bring us something entirely new, what some call "goth-swing". Although frontman Lee Press-on may not entirely agree with that categorization, he would say it's a more accurate description than "Bavarian Drinking Songs". Although they blend a noir-ish sensibility with shockingly thrashing horns and bass, it's still straight-ahead swing. Even their original songs are made to sound as though they'd been created 65 years ago, in order to stay true to the old-school formula. But these veterans of the Bay Area music scene ably crank out old swing standards, souped-up with an oddly carnival-like animation.

Perhaps Lee is to blame for this. Rather cartoon-like himself, with the classic villain's get-up - slicked-back black hair, pencil thin moustache, devilish grin, and a red and black suit - he resembles a gothic gangster. He even admits to moping around goth clubs back in the day before he decided it might be fun to start a band that was about having a good time. And so he does. He keeps the energy level high and slightly maniacal, sampling cartoon noises at random, and even leading the band in throwing devil signs and mock head-banging. The antics never stop and may even include dancing on top of the bar and stripping down to boxers with bats printed on them. "A lot of performers have said,'I have no idea what I'm doing once I'm up there,'" Lee says. "That's more true than you may know." - Heidi Anspaugh