Like Dead Ringers for Real Thing : The jury is still out on what kind of music Mr. Ectomy play. But along with Cubensis, they are a Deadhead’s delight.

The Grateful Dead, who seem to be playing at fewer and fewer venues, may one day be relegated to playing in Jerry’s back yard. Between increasingly infrequent gigs, what’s a Deadhead to do, dude?

Well, since the chances of the real Dead returning to Ventura are roughly equivalent to a change in Elvis’ EKG, then the gig at Midnight Hour on Saturday night is about as good as it gets for the groovy among us. Deadheads can swirl until their tie-dyed shirts become a kaleidoscope of color to the sound of Mr. Ectomy and Cubensis.

National acts such as Phish, Blues Traveler, the Spin Doctors and the Samples, while not Deadhead bands, do the extended jam thing and do attract Deadheads.

“Most of those bands are actually struggling,” Mr. Ectomy lead guitarist Smoke Le Bowl said during a recent phone interview. “There’s only so much money out there, and none of those bands have had a commercial hit song. The big bands of the ‘70s such as Chicago, Tower of Power and Blood, Sweat and Tears all had hit songs, and even two or three hits on every album.”

No big hits yet, but lots of fans for Mr. Ectomy and Cubensis, whose members are from around Southern California, but mostly the South Bay. The two bands play together a lot because they share the same keyboard player, Wake Rickman.

Other members of Mr. Ectomy sport equally dumb aliases that mom probably doesn’t want to know about, such as Strings McGuildikutti, Le Bowl, Niccolai Pakalolo, Yoda, The Essence and others that are unprintable in a family newspaper. Depending on the night, there’s up to 11 members in Mr. Ectomy, which makes it difficult to divide the six-pack of beer and small cold pizza that most club owners routinely lavish on a band.

“There are so many people in the band because none of us know how to play,” lead singer McGuildikutti said.

The jury is still out on what kind of music it is Mr. Ectomy plays. They go fast, then slow; somebody sings, or everybody else sings; most dance around while others stare off into space, and the instrumental jams can be endless.

Music critics at Mr. Ectomy gigs have heard the influences of Frank Zappa, Oingo Boingo, Weird Al Yankovic, the Dead, Return to Forever, Pigface, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Jean-Luc Ponty and Third World. What, no Lawrence Welk? Just wait a minute.

“All of those weird musical comparisons are true--we’re the alternative of the alternative,” Le Bowl said. “We use a lot of different styles in one song. We have polka songs, and we do a punk rock song with a jazz break. We even have tight little three-minute songs. We do a couple of cover songs and fake people out so we can get gigs. They think we’re a reggae band.”

Mr. Ectomy isn’t a reggae band (at least not all the time), but they do share the Rastafarian’s love for buds, and not beer, either. Seemingly half of their songs have to do with smoking marijuana or looking for marijuana. Not surprisingly, Mr. Ectomy appears regularly at hemp rallies.

While Mr. Ectomy has no trouble squeezing into an outdoor rally, they do have trouble fitting on a stage in a bar. But according to McGuildikutti, they’d fit very well into a stretch limo when some record company finally forks over some cash. The band has a CD, a new live tape, a bunch of old tapes and a new CD in the works.

“We want to get signed by the end of the year, but I think we’re too scary for some people because there’s so many of us in the band. But then again, it doesn’t take much to make record company people nervous--they want something that’s safe. They probably don’t like our name, either.”

Details

* WHAT: Mr. Ectomy and Cubensis.

* WHERE: Midnight Hour, 281 W. Main St., Ventura.

* WHEN: Saturday night, 9ish.

* HOW MUCH: Five bucks.

* FYI: 641-2112.