Las Vegas’ Franks & Deans deliver punk rock take on Rat Pack

The punk rock lifer with arms illustrated by as much ink as the pages of a comic book leans forward and poses a fair, albeit seldom asked question.

“Who’s more punk rock than the Rat Pack?” Rob DeTie wonders in the near-dark of the Double Down Saloon on a recent Thursday evening. “They did whatever the hell they wanted and got away with pretty much everything.”

The bearded mountain-of-a-man sitting across from him agrees, citing Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” as an example.

“It’s the whole punk ethos, ‘I’m gonna live how I wanna, go (screw) yourself,’ ” notes the singer-guitarist, who goes by the name of Hoss, as Sham 69 blares from the jukebox.

Connecting the dots between Frank, Sammy and Dino and Joey (Ramone), Glenn (Danzig) and Tim (Armstrong) is what these dudes do.

Along with drummer Pip and guitarist Sampson, DeTie and Hoss are Franks &Deans, a punk rock tribute to the Rat Pack.

On paper, Franks &Deans reads like a gimmick act, something that might be good for a smirk or two and little else.

But this bunch takes what they do seriously — if not themselves, so much — and they back up the kitsch with real chops and a clear understanding of the source material.

Hoss, Pip and DeTie have been listening to Rat Pack standards since they were kids thanks to parents who were fans, and they’re all seasoned players.

“It’s not a novelty band,” Pip says. “It’s a novelty idea.”

Some of their versions of songs are straightforward takes on a given tune, essentially the original number with distorted guitars and added velocity.

Elsewhere, they take liberties with the arrangements, incorporating parts of punk classics from bands such as the Ramones, The Misfits, Bad Religion and Rancid into the song.

For instance, their version of Jerry Jeff Walker’s “Mr. Bojangles,” which Sammy Davis Jr. covered, comes spliced with portions of NOFX’s “Stickin’ In My Eye” and “Linoleum.”

The idea for mash-ups like that one frequently comes from DeTie.

“I put on the punk rock station and the Rat Pack station on Pandora, play them both on a shuffle, put my headphones on and go to work,” he says.

It’s a simple concept, but more complex to execute.

Interpreting the material can be a challenge, as some of the tunes in question originally featured elaborate orchestral instrumentation.

“We’re taking a song that originally had 40 instruments, and we’re busting it down to four,” Hoss says. “With some of these songs we’ve had to completely take away all the music, start with the root notes and go from there, rearrange it and reconstruct it. There’s a couple that we’ve been working on for a few months and we’re still working.”

He notes that they’ve been wrangling with the Sinatra-popularized “Luck Be A Lady” for some time now.

“I’ve been working on that one for four months,” Hoss says. “It’s a song that we have to do. We’re a Vegas band. But that’s a really difficult arrangement with a lot of different parts. You’ve got 15 different notes being played and none of them are the root note. What do we choose here that’s going to go along with the melody?”

In addition to figuring out how to play a song, they have to decide what style they’re going to play it in, as they incorporate rockabilly, reggae and Latin flourishes into various tunes in addition to straight-up punk (dig how they turn Judy Garland’s “Over the Rainbow” into a swooning ska number).

As for the breadth of songs in the Franks &Deans repertoire, they not only play Rat Pack staples, but also songs by artists associated with them, which extends their potential catalog from tunes by The Beatles (Sinatra covered “Yesterday,” and so do they) to classics by Louis Prima, who sang with Sinatra on a number of occasions.

Live, the band sticks true to Rat Pack form and emphasizes showmanship, dressing in matching tuxedo T-shirts, with Hoss and Sampson occasionally busting out synchronized dance moves.

Since debuting at The Dive Bar in December 2013, they’ve gigged all over town, from the House of Blues to the Fremont Country Club, where they opened for Reverend Horton Heat.

Hoss notes that Franks &Deans will soon play their first wedding.

They also host the Franks &Deans Weenie Roast every first Wednesday of the month at the Double Down, replacing Punk Rock Bingo.

It’s a full-on production — complete with free hot dogs, of course.

“What about a true variety show for the rest of us who don’t want to go see a puppeteer and squeaky clean comedy and family entertainment?” Hoss says, articulating the idea behind the event. “I want to see punk rock stuff. I want burlesque dancers, I want sword swallowers, I want a guy who makes (male genitalia) out of balloons. It’s a punk rock Ed Sullivan Show, that’s the only way to really describe it.”

This weekend, Franks &Deans are playing Squidhat Records annual showcase at the Double Down, where a number of unsigned bands vie for a record deal.

Will Franks &Deans get signed?

Stranger things have happened — you know, like the formation of the band to begin with.

“It boils down to one thing Rob and I said to each other when this whole thing first started,” Hoss recalls. “ ‘It’s just stupid enough to work.’ ”

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476. Follow on Twitter @JasonBracelin.