The Fantastic Five

The Fantastic 5, a four-piece Indie/Alternative rock band from South Florida, have been delivering their extraordinary blend of somber, brooding and sometimes macabre ( but wholly relevant) lyrical imagery that comes sheathed in their own unique, alternative, punky, melodic style to eager audiences since 2002 via their previous releases Saves the World Part I released in 2003, a largely DIY effort recorded in a bedroom, and Dead by Easter, an album full of the dark matter that would become their signature sound, released finally in 2008 after a changing of the guard in the form of a new drummer and bassist after original drummer Mario Mesquita and bassist Scott Mudry left the band.

The Fantastic 5, or F5 as they are widely known, is comprised now of founding members Tony Nassif (singer/songwriter/guitarist), previously a solo artist who spent much time scouring various coffeehouses with the likes of medieval storytellers and starving musicians, and Roxana “Roxy” Camacho (lead/rhythm guitar) who learned to play guitar and piano by ear at the age of eight and rips it up with a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier Stack and a Jackson Randy Rhoads guitar, they are joined by member Frank Tatto (bassist) who has been steeped in heavy metal bass riffs since the 80’s, claims to have loved F5 since his first time hearing them, joined F5 in 2010 and who is completely willing to overlook what he deems to be F5’s terrible taste in coffee. Drummer Steve “Dog” Monell (2008-2014) featured on the third album left the band in the summer of 2014 and will be succeeded by a soon to be announced drummer.
The Fantastic 5 have been shedding some of that “heavy-garage power-pop” style of their early days and have boldly introduced a fresh blend of some folky, Spaghetti-Western-esque Mexicana, hook-filled with a an alternative punk vibe and a hint of some “Smile Era” surf-rock in their latest CD The Revenge of Pancho Villa, the group’s third full-length offering.

Drawing on the nearly 40 songs that had been written and arranged but which remained mostly unreleased (except for the gems that made their second album), F5 has been performing daring feats of genre-bending, breathing new life into songs already penned and introducing new collaborative efforts that explore their musical range, putting an emphasis on the unique talents of each member while writing songs that capture their individual and collective strengths, managing to orchestrate a menagerie of styl