The second edition of Wonderful Fest, July 12-15 at Now That’s Class (11213 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland), will feature several firsts, including a schedule that goes beyond last year’s ambitious event and the Cleveland debut of Sub-Pop recording artist King Tuff. Following the success of last summer’s two-day event, the garage-punk cousin of Horrible Fest has been expanded to four dates hosted at one of Cleveland’s best-known underground music venues. The extra dates were made necessary by a solid 21-band lineup, including nine national touring acts. This year’s event is being m...
6/09 - Grog Shop - Cleveland, OH BIO 1776 are a rock band from the small logging town of Longview, Washington. They are Nigel Ledgerwood, Christopher Cook, Mitchell Rupe, and Zach Whiton. For the last two years they’ve have been part of The Dandy Warhols’ ‘Beat The World Records’ family and are releasing their debut album through Beat The World Records and The End Records on June 5th 2012. Bands like The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Sweet, The Seeds and The Kinks; as well as the legendary underground Portland bands of Dead Moon, The Wipers, and Napalm Beach inspire them. You can h...
Nights With a blend of shoegaze and slender psychedelic leanings, this Cleveland quartet weaves a gentle dreamscape with waves of guitar drone. It makes a fitting bed for the angular leads and airy vocal — though it’s not without heavier parts. All these movements and shifts carry the listener through a tumbling and rolling sea of lyrics constructed from half-forgotten daydreams, like the Black Angels running down an old set list from Rainer Maria. Has the potential to dazzle the less jaded, or maybe vice versa. Volcano Fortress These cats from Cleveland play some pretty frantic indi...
Fillmore Jive, from New Castle, Pennsylvania, apparently changed their name to The Modulated Tones, but the demo that I am currently listening to is Fillmore Jive’s "Rock Bottom." Most bands that I come across show direct reference to their self-proclaimed influences. This band, I can appreciate for not sounding like a replica of any single one of their idols. Though, perhaps lacking in the raw luster that their influences have provided over time (the Velvet Underground, The Jesus and Mary Chain, or My Bloody Valentine), Fillmore Jive brings progression, garage rock distortion, and spacey...
Danko Jones B-Sides Danko Jones has carved out a sound and image quite unique in his 15 years in the biz. He’s streamlined it, in essence, to the point that he’s pretty instantly recognizable with the strum of a few chords, or in most cases, an opening line to one of his countless relationship sermons. But “B-Sides” shows just how he got there. Sure, of the 27 (!) tracks in all here, about half of them could comprise another unmistakable Danko record. One could even could argue that the best cuts of “B-Sides” would be his strongest record to date. But aside from the unmistakable ...
Brooklyn rock trio The Sweet Ones work harder ... and you should, too. Ed. note: This article first appeared in the winter 2010 Youngstown Pulse. By B.J. LISKO Youngstown Pulse Magazine Editor BROOKLYN, N.Y. – When The Sweet Ones take the stage, it’s on. It’s what the Brooklyn garage rock trio does. Sure, the kids in MC5 shirts and throwback trust fund gear might be able to copy a riff or two, but for The Sweet Ones, living off the floor and navigating by the light of late night joints (both kinds) is life. “You said you wanted to be one,” said singer/guitarist Doug Cote referrin...
This will be the Cleveland garage-rock band’s first performance in five years. Back in 1986 they were Cleveland’s representation for the then newly revived garage rock movement. More melody-driven then their contemporaries, The New Salem Witch Hunters still bring the psychedelic jam with jangly guitars, heavy organ leads and shouting/crooning vocals. ...
Though often connected with garage rock, U.K. band Holly Golightly is more a mixture of pre-rock electric country blues, folk and less frantic rock ‘n’ roll. It brings to mind a bourbon-soaked honky-tonk bar, cracked hearts and foot-stomping good times. MORE INFO HERE...
Like cro-magnon neanderthals bashing on guitars and drums, the music of Canton’s The Said So will bludgeon and beat you into senseless bloody submission. Their music doesn’t really groove as much as it “oozes” and catching these guys live is always a booze-filled rampage of primal garage rock fun. I interviewed them recently at their practice space next to a butcher shop…. rather fitting for these five carnivorous cavemen. The story of The Said So, as with so many bands, starts with the ending of a few other ones. Rickey Mendell has been part of the local Canton music scene since ...
Dan Miraldi, the NE Ohio-based musician whose candy-sweet pop songs are underpinned with decades of American rock history, recently released Tease, a new three-song solo EP. Miraldi, who also plays keyboard with the Washington, DC-area band The Silver Liners, produced Tease with Kyle Downes. Jay Nemeyer provided some guitar, bass and drums. It’s easy to think of Tease as a kind of appetizer for Miraldi’s future releases: The three songs- “Lucinda”, “The Holy Roller Stone Revival” and the title track- demonstrate a broad range of musical talents and lyrical subjects, an...
The “Slack” is back, baby! The Slackers are hot and hung-over from their European tour, re-charged with a booze cruise or two, and primed and ready for their mid-America blitz. Come out to the Grog Shop this Friday for a lil ska and rock steady, throw in a pinch of reggae dub soul and top with garage rock, this is the show that is The Slackers, doors at 9pm. Notable punk label Hellcat Records saw the raw fury and released the Slackers’ album “Red Light” in 1996, since then it’s been a whirlwind, they’ve toured to death and back. This hardworking, hard partying approach is on...
Gleasons Drift is a band all about keeping the spirit of rock’n’roll alive, which is done artfully on the new album Blythe Township Mellencamp. It’s rock/americana with hints of country; a convergence of light-hearted barroom music with a strong focus on harmony and catchy hooks. Their clever lyrics are strung together over eleven diverse tracks, bouncing between southern blues, pop, punk and garage rock, bringing a new flavor into each song. They get honkey-tonk on “Crowes” before displaying their Meat Puppets influence with a sped-up tempo on “It Ain’t Easy Being Me....
The Black Keys Brothers It’s disappointing that Akron’s Black Keys still remain warily overshadowed by another two-piece guitar rock band with a color-themed moniker. The Black Keys have been far more innovative, adventurous and dynamic during their tenure than the White Stripes, save for the Stripe’s last couple albums when Jack White & Co. began to bleed out of their comfort zone. But it’s really not fair to compare the two. And with the Keys’ new effort, Brothers, that distance between the bands continues to grow. Brothers is the sound of a band renewed and finding the...
If one gauges the success of a rock and roll band sheerly on chart positioning, round-the-clock radio and television rotation and riding on the coattails of each passing fade, you probably might consider the Fleshtones a failure. If, however, you espouse to the belief that originality, longevity, global exposure, perfection of a tried-and-true formula is the hallmarks of bona fide rock icon, than the Fleshtones are rock royalty. For the past 34 years, the boys from the boroughs of NYC have scratched their heads on the ceiling of critical acclaim only to blow the roof off of the alter...
Crustacean Records Garage Rock The moment the opening title track to “Prime Motivator” starts, you won’t be able to take a seat. This song brings a sense of fun, with a catchy chorus and danceable rhythm sections. Combining a sense of urgency with nimble scale-climbing guitars and, most importantly, a sense of danger with an unpredictable rock attitude. Wham! The Giraffes are definitely strange animals. No exception here for this Brooklyn, NY band. Lead by ringmaster Aaron Lazar, this circus walks the tight rope of fun clown and dangerous clown. Songs like “Power of Fatherhood” a...
By Tim Webb Every musician has to wish they could evolve as appropriately and uncontrived as Alice Cooper. Navigating a career beginning as a theatrically heavy metal band packed with tons of non-gimmicky violence and an unparalleled live show into a seminal band that caught its second wind in the ‘80s pop metal is no easy task. The fact that there’s a new Alice Cooper album after four decades of existence is an accomplishment in itself, but “Along Came a Spider” doesn’t dwell on this feat, or even really acknowledge it. In fact the “God of Shock Rock” hasn’t mellowed a bit ...
