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The
Ithacan, Music Review ***1/2 (out of 4) |
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-Rookie Band
Takes a Step in the Right Direction
It’s cliché to
exclaim how much things change in a year, but Dave Gutter probably
didn’t see his music career playing out like this.
A year ago, Gutter was the lead singer for the Rustic Overtones,
an exuberant and talented band based in Portland, Maine.
Many felt the Rustic Overtones were on a path to superstardom,
but
things quickly fell apart as members left one by one.
Yet Gutter and remaining members Jon Roods and Marc Boisvert
stuck together and formed the Paranoid Social Club.
Gutter boasts one of the most unique voices in the music
industry, and his ingenious lyrics and acoustics make for
a sound that
is just as explosive as the Paranoid Social Club’s
predecessor. Roods and Boisvert nicely complement Gutter
with solid backups
on bass and drums, as well as various auxiliary percussion
units.
The band’s first album, “Axis II,” drips
with incredible sound. “Axis II” is unique because
each of the 12 songs has its own distinctive pace and style.
The album’s first track, “Bully,” erupts
almost immediately into an intriguing rap/metal sound.
Also of interest on “Axis II” is the band’s
self-proclaimed “Theme Song,” in which Gutter calmly
explains what being in the Paranoid Social Club is all about,
while a calm guitar, bass and drumbeat hum in the background. “If
you didn’t make the cut, make the grade, maybe if you’re
just ‘afraid,’” Gutter sings.
If Paranoid Social Club ever makes it to the promised land,
it will probably be because of the song “Wasted,” which
could turn into the Friday night anthem for college students
all over the country. The song is a tribute to drunkenness,
but equally intoxicating is the melody that is a fantastic
blend of light bass and driving percussion with a splash
of electronically generated music.
And that is what makes the band stand out. Each song’s
unique sound also carries lyrics that tell intriguing stories.
Every track on “Axis II” has a different story,
and any person is bound to relate to at least two or three
of them.
“
Headphones” illustrates the feelings of having energizing
music pump through one’s veins as the ordinary world
looks on. “Ricochet,” perhaps the catchiest tune
on the album, is about the growing popularity of firearms
as well as the subsequent consequences (ironic for a band
originating
in the tame region of Portland).
Overall, this is an absolutely dynamite album. Listeners
will find the songs to be extremely catchy and somewhat addictive.
Paranoid Social Club is a band with immense talent and could
find themselves making it big on the national scene if they
catch a break.
Music Review
By Mario Fontana - Staff Writer
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Not everything
about this past year was good. It was marked early by the closing
of clubs like SubTerra, the Better End, and the Stone Coast — Was
it a long year? Just think, the Stone Coast played host to
the release party for Greetings from Area Code 207, Volume
2, an album to which I’m still listening. The year also
saw a number of great bands like Twitchboy, Trivium, Broken
Clown, Dulce de Leche, kNOw Complex, Inside Straight, and Rustic
Overtones call it quits. In fact, the whole metal scene has
seemed to wither significantly.
Luckily, however, the Skinny, Big Easy, and Asylum have shouldered
the burden, even renewed their efforts, and there is new life
in the Free Street Taverna, Gold Mine, and the Well. New bands
like Vespertine, Seekonk, Rocktopus, Paranoid Social Club,
Pneuma, and Zion Train have risen from the ashes of fallen
projects. And the pop scene has exploded where once, not too
long ago, it lay completely dormant.
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NO MICKEY MOUSE
CLUB:
PSC self-flagellates with Axis II.
***1/2 (out of ****) Paranoid Social Club AXIS II (Self-produced).
In my review of their demo, I wrote of Paranoid Social
Club that their “history as Rustic Overtones — which
would have morphed into Paranoid Social Club eventually — makes
lead singer Dave Gutter, bassist Jon Roods, and drummer
Marc Boisvert aware of the cold music-biz realities and
the responsibilities that come with them. But that experience
has also left them profoundly jaded, insular, and a little
bit crazy.” And, though this official album release
contains three new songs, the fundamental qualities of
their music haven’t changed. If anything, they’ve
been amplified.
One of the new songs leads off the disc, actually. “Bully” is
a manic, crazed explosion of a song, featuring the fiery
voice of 6gig’s Walt Craven and the tortured rhymes
of Portland’s hip-hop hero du jour, Poverty. The
tune borders on the industrial, with sounds coming in and
out from all over the place. Poverty’s rapped bridge,
featuring lines like “ugly as me,” “the
day that I fall,” and “people are evil” serves
to cement PSC’s holistic mission from the outset.
They’re serious about being a haven for the disaffected.
They’ve replaced Rustic swagger with self flagellation
made cool.
How about the ultra-cynical “Ricochet”? What
a horrible, if realistic, portrait of society — set
to a soundtrack of gunshots ringing out in the background. “Everybody’s
got a gun, even your ex-girlfriend,” the “mailman’s
going postal going door to door,”ü“suburban
kids get bored,” and one man goes nuts “cuz
Vietnam it wasn’t planned ahead/ He killed them for
his country/ Now he wishes Uncle Sam was dead.” They
have staked themselves to the ever-pervasive malaise that’s
running rampant through our youth. Why might Johnny be
having trouble at school? Maybe it’s because it “Seems
like everyone’s got a gun these days” and you
have to “Watch out for the ricochet.”
Gutter’s vocals have never sounded more anguished
than on the final new song, “Fucking with My Head.” He
is desperate, as is the music, with haunting chords in
the background, and Boisvert drums that roll and splash
with abandon. “Do what you want with mü possessions/
You can even wear my clothes/ You’re not fucking
with my head.” Rock music has always been a bullhorn
for the voices of the disenfranchised youth. What’s
coming out of this amplification device is important, and
more than a little frightening.
— Sam Pfeifle
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