Music Spectrum

Music Spectrum went on an unscheduled hiatus in recent months. This review is part of the “basement notebooks”—old reviews written by hand but only being posted online. Enjoy!

Fireflight have the essence of Evanescence but with Jennifer Knapp or Krystal Meyers fronting the band. Fireflight’s Dawn Richardson has a pop rock voice in front of the band’s popped-out hard rock (“Brand New Day”). There are vocal harmonics like Evanescence which makes the sound ready for dark, flashing light visuals, but Unbreakable actually remains rather homogeneous rhythmically.

“Unbreakable,” “The Hunger,” and “Stand Up” are where Fireflight needs to be to go forward. The songs have a good hard rock guitar riff with a pop accessible vocal and melody. Without that good riff, though, as evidenced on most of the other songs, Fireflight will go dark—as in extinguished.

Fireflight
Flicker Records
Provident-Integrity

Were Evanescence achieves their sound from a theatrical-like production of sound effects that fill out their hard-edged sound, God or Julie strips back the theatrics to just land at a rock rush that’s like Evanescence without the layers of sound. God or Julie has a tight approach to the on-the-edge-of-screaming rock.

However, This Road Before ultimately suffers because Jon Paul Johnson’s vocal line is too similar throughout the album. The saving grace (and future hope) is when God or Julie lands in a defining hooks that jars the hard rock wash. “Waste Your Tears” is broken up by a “My Sharona”-like riff as if the Knack got punked. On “Bury Me,” the punk click breaks up the Evanescence wash with a sped up vocal line and 80’s guitar solo break.

Despite the fact that mainly the disc points toward a hope that a sophomore release will yield more hooks, God or Julie also captured my attention because of their name. Apparently a reference to their friend whose songs were always about God or his girlfriend, God or Julie also makes a great talking point about contemporary Christian music. Many of today’s worship songs are written in such a way that they could be about God or Julie, a praise song addressed to Jesus Christ or a love song written about a girlfriend. While the Bible compares a human marriage to God’s relationship with His people, it isn’t the only metaphor. If all of our worship songs could be about God or Julie, we’re not tapping into the full breadth of biblical imagery.

And actually, these musings about Christian music and God or Julie come together on the song “White,” which could be interpreted as being about a girlfriend or God. If taken to be about God, the lyric shines a light on how Jesus comes to take away the stain of our sins and make us people who reflect His love. God or Julie say it this way:

Take away everything I am
Everything that you couldn’t stand
Wash away all the stains
And then I’ll become white….

You’ll be the anything that I need
I’ll be only what you want me to be
Take all the pain from inside me
And make me white

God or Julie
Smartpunk

The third period is about to begin, the teams charge onto the ice for their warm up skates, and the P.A. system blasts the AC/DC or Van Halen.

Growing up going to North Stars hockey games (yes, North Stars in Minnesota not whatever they’re called wherever they play now) is when I first experienced hard rock and heavy metal. Blades slashing, sticks slapping, fists flying, bodies checked, guitars wailing, men wailing like women, drums crashing all over the place. Power, adrenaline, sweat, speed, violence, loudness, all sanctioned by the National Hockey League and my dad who took me to the games.

I have no real business talking about the extreme end of the music spectrum, because this is about all I really know about heavy metal: it makes good ambience for certain situations. I can’t tell you what makes someone’s power chord different than another, why one screamed vocal is ten times better than another, or how bands really stack up against each other.

I can only tell you that I like hard rock in limited doses especially when the situation calls for it.

12 Stones charges onto the ice with their power play power chords, mid-ice checking heavy rock, and fret board solo tick handling. Their new album, Anthem for the Underdog, pulls out the classic 70’s and 80’s heavy metal playbooks, but as they set up each play, you realize this is a team of the 2000’s.

When 12 Stones comes on like a fist pumping, crowd jumping band moderating chaos (“Adrenaline”), they also take on plenty of band rock subtleties—the uplifting lyrics of Big Country and the heart-on-sleeve passion of Jimmy Eat World’s emo.

12 Stones has all of the raw energy, but they go beyond hot rods and hot chicks. That’s why even though they may not break a lot of new musical ground, I’ll keep listening.

Thanks to 12 Stones and Wind-up Records for the review CD.

Speaking of Having No Business Reviewing Heavy Metal. . .
After unearthing my high school newspaper article about Tony Powers, I decided to also check out my music reviews. I have no idea why I wrote about heavy metal—except for the fact that we needed to have a broad range of reviews. Enjoy my silly attempts at understanding these albums.

Cued Up: The Razor’s Edge by AC/DC
I was on the edge of my seat as the first chords became apparent. I was waiting for the thunder of AC/DC to strike me, but all that was there was just another heavy-rock beat song with its only uniqueness in the strange voice over it all. Brian Johnson’s voice has seen many years of abuse, and now on AC/DC’s latest album, The Razor’s Edge, it has begun to sound like a talking distorted guitar. With an uneventful ending of the first song on the album, “Thunderstruck,” the next song takes off with a faster beat which may be the thunder the first song spoke of in its chanting chorus. I waited, but still this song was not taking off with the energy I expected.

Then the album gives way to “Money Talks,” a good rocking song, but the potential of this album died right there. The song “Mistress for Christmas” seems almost sacrireligious, and after this, AC/DC is no longer blessed with anymore tuneful songs from The Razor’s Edge. Words of wisdom: Being stabbed by a dull knife is a slow, painful death.

Cued Up: Recycler by ZZ Top
Still going strong after their 1970’s beginning, ZZ Top recycles their old sounds in their latest album, Recycler. Even though each song seems to be a bit repetitive, the guitar sound is still more creative than some of the redundant rhythms coming from the techno-dance crowd. The second song, “Love Thing,” saves itself from this trap by adding breaks and different drum fills. Following the long flow of their beards, ZZ Top has that confident, consistent guitar sound that never lacks energy and drive.

Reprinted from The Jefferson Rebel, Rachel C. Schaeffer, Features editor. AC/DC review, December 21, 1990. ZZ Top review, November 30, 1990.

Emo (emotionally-charged hard rock) seems to be a reaction to 80’s heavy metal which was the only thing the truly macho guys listened to in high school. For those of us wanting the hard-edged guitars and rhythms but who were way too touchy-feely so that we’d have immediately been thrown out of a Metallica concert, there weren’t many alternatives. I remember thinking that it was safe to go to a Living Colour concert, because while they bashed about harder than anyone, they weren’t your typical metal band: 1) Corey Glover was as soulful a singer as any R& artist, and 2) they were black.

Along came the 90’s, Seattle, and grunge—hard rock for the flannel shirts. It was safe to be an arty, hippie type in the mosh pit at a Pearl Jam show (as safe as a mosh pit could be), because there was a more egalitarian hard rock spirit. I heard Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, and Screaming Trees get equal accolades on both the metal/hard rock and modern rock/alternative radio stations.

At some point, grunge was eclipsed by newer hard rock forms which leads to Emo. I’m not pretending to understand this entire history; I’m just looking back on what I experienced which helps me see why I can’t stop listening to Dropping Daylight’s Brace Yourself.

Where grunge brought those hard guitars and rhythms out of masochism of locker rooms, softball fields, auto repair shops, and suped-up Chevy Novas, still most of the time, it felt methodically slow. There was still the allure of thrash metal with its incredible double-time kick drum and wicked guitar. Emo moves with the speed, but not as much screaming. Emo tapped into the hard edge without the accompanying demographic. Emo bared souls instead of biceps.

Enter Dropping Dayling’s approach to Emo—speed, thrash, guitar throwdowns, double-speed drum fills, heart-on-sleeve lyrics, melodic vocals, but also piano leads that are a nod to Britrock like Oasis, Coldplay, and Muse. Dropping Daylight are MTV darlings, but while that has of recent meant shallow substance, this band is the real thing in the real, real world. The music drops in off the half-pipe like good skate punkers should when they play the Vans Warped Tour, but this isn’t just X-Games flash.

Songs like “Apologies” give a thrash touch to the basic pop song core. Sebastian Davin’s piano foundation for “Lucy” even recalls Carole King. While you could hear a hint of Rufus Wainwright’s vaudeville or Jamie McCullum’s jazz-thrash piano in the song’s core, the band brings the noise, embracing both Davin’s melodic line and all things Emo. A better match has rarely been heard.

Out of this Emo storm of guitars, drums, piano, and jazz-pop-vaudeville musical overtures comes “Answering Our Prayers,” the turning point ballad when the star of the show faces his fear, his need to change, and so begins the resolution of our play. The song’s chorus asks questions of doubt like many of the Psalms in Scripture.

Is anybody there
Answering our prayers
Or did we do this to ourselves
Will anybody dare to question the air
Searching for answers in the clouds

It takes an Emo band to be brave enough to reveal such doubts on stage, to reveal conflicted, twisted heartstrings in the midst of a hard rock album.

The album then closed with the urgency of “Til You Feel Something,” which has Davin’s breathy, gapped vocal line, some great breakdown sections including handclapping-inducing rhythm with crunch guitars joined by Davin’s Bruce Hornsby-like piano. The song is definitely a show closer of grand proportions.

Thanks to Dropping Daylight and Octone Records for the review copy.

I love the raw sound on Day of Fire’s sophomore release, Cut & Move, but I was tempted to junk the whole thing as part of Christian ghetto jingoism when I heard that the band had been featured on Pat Robertson’s 700 Club.

The album is a throwback to the days of grunge and flannels with the intense hard rock of Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, and Screaming Trees, and yet, Robertson and 700 Club is very contrary to all that rebellious honesty. Plus, theologically and politically I have trouble seeing how Robertson in enacting the Gospel as he emphasizes a dangerous interpretation of prophecy that includes calling for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. How could Day of Fire encourage a connection between their outward-focused music and a closed, right-wing, knee-jerk reactionary?

Graciously, Day of Fire’s lead singer Josh Brown agreed to a phone interview with Music Spectrum, and fortunately, I calmed down before our conversation. Yet, I still asked Brown, “In press releases, it’s noted that Day of Fire has appeared on the 700 Club. In wider circles, this might seem like an odd choice considering Pat Robertson’s reputation.”

Brown showed his mission focus, his understanding of the Gospel, and great tact as he answered saying: “[The 700 Club did an interview about my testimony. I try not to have too many opinions about other people’s views. When I got saved, came into the light of God, I was changed. I saw everything as pure. I didn’t question people’s motives or theology.”

That got me back into my place, realizing that Brown was focused on serving God and not jumping to judge someone too quickly.

However, Brown also seemed to allow that Robertson’s approach doesn’t match his own. “You can be very offensive if you say your beliefs without understanding. You say the word Christian to a Muslim or homosexual or Jew, it means something different to all of those people. You start reading the words of Jesus, you think about what it means to love your enemies, to spread the love of God in this world, and sometimes it doesn’t always end up with what the religion of Christianity says is right. Our mission is Day of Fire, and we just try to show the love of Jesus. All of those people who have been hurt by Christians, they start to wonder about why we can love them where they’re at and the religion hasn’t.”

That was enough differentiation for me. Day of Fire is not the 700 Club. In fact, Brown also seemed to be saying that the band doesn’t represent Christianity as a religion, but rather, they show themselves to be followers of Jesus. That emphasis on a relationship with Jesus and a focus on showing the essence of the Gospel to people who have been hurt by the Church are both qualities of the emergent church, which in my mind launched Day of Fire back into the heavy rotation of rockers in the mission.

Due to scheduling conflicts, I wasn’t able to catch the band’s set at Lifest in nearby Oshkosh, Wisconsin. However, seeing them at a Christian festival was related to another fear I had about Day of Fire: are you content staying inside the Christian ghetto?

Once again, Brown came back with a mission focus that slammed my preconceived notions to the ground. Noting that Sony Red is now working the mainstream distribution of Cut & Move, Brown commented, “The music we’re doing, it’s a vehicle to get us in front of people who are hungry for something. It’s almost impossible for a rock band like us to survive just playing for the choir. But that’s not what we’re supposed to be doing. God gave me these gifts so that I spread the light, spread the love. If you’ll go where people where they’re at, if you’ll love them, the opportunity of what God gives you to do is much, much greater.”

Musically, Cut & Move never lets up. There’s no throwaway praise & worship ballad that’s cookie cutter music (CCM). Brown mentioned that this album came out of the band really working more together, finding “dirtier tones,” because “life is not always pretty, so we just want to write music that shows that.”

This shows up on “Wake Me,” a story song like Soul Asylum’s “String of Pearls” where the song takes you through a series of scenes of people and in one verse about each you see the great need in their heart. “Wake Me” includes a reference to a girl sexually abused by her father and now living on the streets working as a prostitute.

Is CCM ready for a song with such a vivid picture of a prostitute? Brown again comes back to his mission focus, “That’s our whole message: the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not just for the people who have it together enough to get to Church on Sunday and Wednesday. Jesus is for the drug addict, the prostitute, and the homosexual. The way I treat the person on the street is the way I treat Jesus.”

Brown backs up that idea with the chorus of “Wake Me” which says, “Wake me when it’s over/Pick me up, I’m on the ground/Wake me when it’s over/Show me where the light is found.”

Thank you to Josh Brown for taking time out from a busy schedule to talk on the phone. Thank you to Day of Fire and Essential Records for the review copy.

The press release accompanying Red’s End of Silence cites Linkin Park, Chevelle, and Muse as influential on the band’s sound. This is avoiding the obvious: Evanescence. Ever since being burned by Evanescence rejecting the idea that they are a Christian band, it would seem that the Christian music industry has wanted to find the next Evanescence—albeit one that would remain outright Christian. Red could be that band, although maybe the press release didn’t want to suggest that in order to avoid associating the band with any hint of a turn tail future.

Hard rock guitars, hooks that borrow a groove from industrial music (along with effects), sweeping orchestrations supplied by keyboard, thoroughly smashing drumming, melodic vocals that could just as easily become screaming—these are the many keys in Red’s sound, and they certainly beg the Evanescence comparison. Except, of course, if you have trouble hearing this considering that lead vocalist Mike Barnes is of a different gender than Amy Lee.

If I sound negative about Red having this similarity to Evanescence, I’m not. The album produced by Rob Graves and released on Essential is more hard rocking than anything they’ve put out before this, and Red is a welcome sight in the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) mainstream where things so quickly get pop-ified. End of Silence fills the spot the 38th Parallel left vacant when they broke up—a screaming vocal and guitar that gets attention.

What I’m disappointed about is that the Red release opens CCM up to the charge that they’re “Johnny come lately” again. Evanescence made their big splash with their 2003 release, Fallen; three years later now Red can tap into that. . .old market. Things move fast, but not in CCM. Same thing happened with Relient K who is obviously vamping on Blink 182. It’s like CCM can only find bands of kids who grew up listening to something and are finally following in those footsteps a few years too late. CCM constantly sounds like mainstream radio from a five years ago.

Again, Red may have kicked off this diatribe, but believe me when I say that the Red disc will spin in my office much more often than some things I hear coming from CCM. If you want to ignore all of the industry commentary and just need a pull quote on Red, here it is:

Red’s End of Silence adds muscle-flexing tension to the struggle of faith through vein-popping vocals, plaintive keyboard parts interrupted by noise-fuzz guitars, effects coming like voices that try to interfere with the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and percussion that leads you to punch the sky. Kids in the Way don’t have the musicianship, Thousand Foot Krutch don’t have the song, and there’s a freshness that Kutless hasn’t kept pursuing. Red sky at night, listeners’ delight.

By the way, I applaud Essential Records (Provident Label Group) for releasing Red and Day of Fire discs on June 6. What could be known as the “unholy release date,” June 6, 2006 (6/6/06) has been chosen by some labels as a release date in an attempt to market dangerous rebellion, tempting a devilish image, or just as a twisted ploy. Confident that the day, date, and number cannot defeat those in Christ, I am glad that Essential didn’t choose to avoid June 6. As the Pixies said in “Monkey Gone to Heaven,” “If the devil is 6, then God is 7.” Christ will always have one up on Satan.

Thank you to Red and Essential Records for the review copy.

“Still Alive” by the Chemistry combines all of this band’s influences into one track. An opening bluesy riffs immediately leads into an Emo Hard Rock wall akin to Number One Gun, Number One Fan, Day of Fire, or Finger Eleven. Danny Mitchell’s vocals jam out with skate punk attitude (Blink 182, Relient K) while giving hints of the rap-sing posturing of Kutless. Hipped-up rhythms from Justin Schultz (drums) and Jared Valencia (bass) make this hard-edged sound more than a headbanging drudgery. A gang shout on the chorus comes equipped with the triple guitar attack from Thomas Scriven (lead), Tommy Hamilton, and Mitchell, accents and rising sounds coming from every direction. Collective Soul’s triple guitar line-up doesn’t have anything on the Chemistry’s guitar slingers. The energy and creativity of “Still Alive” is what captured my attention, bringing the Chemistry above the glut of Christian rock hitting the desk.

The hard rock wash of “The Same” comes with the bonus of guitar/drum fill breaks, some 80’s throwback, quieter rock bridges, and hip-hop in Mitchell’s word-work. Danceable drumming and guitar stutters kick off “At a Glance” which has this emo chorus coupled with that skate punk attitude in the verses. “From Within” blazes with that hard rock edge, background vocals that hoarsely shout, but with plenty of melody and amped-up energy like Sarcasm.

“Still Alive” declares, “If you want me to flail, I’ll bring this place down/If you want me to be like everyone else/Then cuff my hands and paint my face. . .When did art discover a constant?/When did music become a machine?” The Chemistry is avoiding that machine. Oh, tracks like “Fear of Falling” come close to fulfilling the expectations of contemporary Christian radio—a little extra guitar crunch with a praise song chorus—but given the right support from producers and label, the Chemistry will be able to avoid the stagnation of Christian rock.

Lyrically, the Chemistry allow for plenty of wiggle room on interpretation, meaning that if you want to use the songs for Bible studies, your students will have to work their brains to see the connection to the faith. And that’s a good thing. Many of the songs could simply be love songs, but the words could also transform into words between God and us. The aching wait for a girlfriend to arrive in “About You” has the line, “I wish our distance would disappear,” which is a powerful Advent prayer. While we often use hyperbole to talk about our passion for girlfriends or boyfriends, our deepest desire and need is to be brought back together with God.

Of course, like Switchfoot, P.O.D., and other bands in the mainstream who have personal relationships with Christ, there’s a lot of questions about the Chemistry’s faith, because they’re on a secular label without clear Jesus lyrics. In response to this, Valencia posted this on the Chemistry messageboard:

Everyone in our band has a personal relationship with God, who has blessed us enough to be able to be musicians as a living. However we are only a ministry oriented band in the fact that we wish to give kids hope, and light through are music. We are very much in the secular industry, in fact that is where we started. We wish to be lights in a dark room, not in already well lit rooms. There are so many bands out there saying things through their music that either have no substance, or are full of anger and hurt with no conclusions to what they are trying to say. We are trying to say things through are music that are uplifting, and correct according to our beliefs. This is more of my opinion. Everyone in the band differs a bit (not much) on this subject. (link to original posting)

Thanks to the Chemistry and Razor and Tie for the review copy.

Evanescence is equivocal about being Christian, the spirituality and biblical tinges in their music denied by their strong statements against being labeled a “Christian band.” However, Evanescence is unequivocal in their pursuit of melodic hard rock with touches of hip hop/rap posturing.

Flip that equivocal and unequivocal around, and that’s how you can describe the young band, Kainos. Kainos is unequivocal about being Christian, taking on a Greek word as their name to signify being made new in Christ. However, Kainos is equivocal in their sound; are they creating their own identity or simply mimicking the melodic hard rock of Evanescence?

This sound-alike quality is more than a surface level comparison of a hard rock band with a female lead singer. The title track of Kainos’ debut album, Alive, starts with electronic strings, a muffled drum track, and Hannah Stacy’s haunting vocals, all of which then breaks into the crash chords of the chorus. As the song grows, I’ve had an equivocal experience, not knowing if I had put Kainos in the CD or if I was listening to Evanescence’s Fallen.

Of course, this is all from the point of view of reviewing a new artist, trying to decide just how new they are. Do the husband and wife team of Ben and Hannah Stacy have something unique to offer? The danger will for them to remain equivocal on this question. There are glimmers of hope throughout Alive. The album opens with “Selfish Me” and “When You Come Back Down,” both of which charge ahead like hard rockers with open hearted emotions, battling cries that also show chinks in the armor. The hip-shake guitar joins a little air punching on “Layin’ It Down.”

Lyrically, I’d point again to “Selfish Me,” an angry confession that doesn’t just admit pride but shuts it down. There’s power in many of these hard rock psalms written by the Stacys. However, either for the sake of being less direct or due to the models in contemporary praise songs, Kainos’ lyrics suffer from overuse of the pronoun “you.” Nearly all of the songs are addressed to “you,” or perhaps a capitalized “y” “You.” This lack of variety lets these songs pass like highway mile markers—each one has a different number, but they’re all green, the same size, and pretty much like the one that just passed. More specificity would lend more dimension to these songs, stories, and words of Scripture. While the album closes with the blues-flavored “Like Gravity,” a song more about God than addressed to God, more songs that step out of the direct address to God would provide another dimension.

Perhaps, then, while Kainos has an equivocal sound, coming close at times to sounding like an Evanescence cover band, perhaps this review has been a bit equivocal as well. Let me clear this up with this thought: I’ve offered up some concerns about Kainos because hearing them makes me want them to succeed. As I write this review at the coffee shop, listening to “Fade,” there’s a real possibility that I’ll go from tapping my foot to pogoing. I like the coffee shop, so I’m keeping the earphones in, the speakers off, and staying in my seat, but if Kainos didn’t have some sonic nitro, I wouldn’t even be in this danger. In that respect, I’m unequivocal. You will shake your hips and pound a fist as you shout out to the Lord while listening to Kainos.

Thanks to Kainos and Southern Signal Records for the review copy.

Dear James, D’Arcy, and Jimmy,

Billy Corgan wants you back as a band. He took out a whole page ad in the newspaper to prove it. Here’s my open letter to you, James Iha, D’Arcy Wretzky, and Jimmy Chamberlin. Please may the Smashing Pumpkins reunite.

While Billy has had his fun now with the solo album, TheFutureEmbrace, there are huge, gaping holes in his songs without you. Considered independently from the Smashing Pumpkins, the album would find a place near Placebo, combing dance rock and charged guitar. The fact that he asked Robert Smith to sing on the cover of the Bee Gees’ “To Love Somebody” isn’t a stretch since there are elements of the Cure’s sound here too. On its own, the album is worthy of attention, accolades, and a place in rock history.

However, this isn’t independent of the Smashing Pumpkins and history. This is Billy Corgan. The songs he writes still hearken back to what came out of Chicago in the 90’s. While you can hear strains of Siamese Dream on TheFutureEmbrace, this is no Gish.

Do you why it’s no Gish? Gish blew me away with your drums, Jimmy. Those fills, patterns, and bombastics cemeted Gish as a truly great album. Drum programming just never ever fills that important role in Billy’s songs. (Why didn’t you bang the drum more on your TheFutureEmbrace guest appearance?).

While Billy’s signature guitar does its airy electricity on TheFutureEmbrace he needs your real lead, James. Plus, D’Arcy, there’s no true rock bass to push the songs to throw down intensity. You did that, D’Arcy.

Billy actually cranks a little more energy into “DIA” (see what you inspired, Jimmy, with your drums?), although there’s also a chime tone guitar on the bridge that’s almost like the Edge. It shows that Billy has grown, but the growth will be forever stunted without the Smashing Pumpkins. Just think what you could do together now.

I want the Smashing Pumpkins back. I want Gish. If /when you do reunite, it’s not that I want an exact replica of the Gish sound. I just think in you there’s another album of such rocking ferocity that will never be heard unless you’ll just let it gush forth the day you meet one another again at Pumpkinland in Chicago.

Rock on and may God bless you!
Benjamin Squires

The hardest working band in rock ‘n’ roll. That phrase has been applied to many bands, I suppose, but on last Monday night (April 4) in La Crosse, Wisconsin, Sarcasm truly earned it. They played the Warehouse, located in historic downtown, an all-ages club in an old building up 49 steep steps to the third story. I’ve never seen anything like it, and neither had the band as they stared up from the street entrance before the show, still more loads of gear to go. I pitched in to carry the last of Justin Gershowitz’s drum set upstairs, and in the process, got to know one of the friendliest bands in hard rock.

Hailing from Long Island, NY, Sarcasm has been on the road almost constantly it seems for the last two years. After an extended tour ended last December, their original lead guitarist quit. Now with Mike on board for lead duties, they appear to be gelling, cranking out music and energy.

They’re playing through pain—physical and financial. Physically, they all seemed worn out by the April 4th gig—by the Warehouse’s 49 steps up; a full-speed, sweat set; and then 49 steps down. Physically, though, the King of Pain is Mike, playing a mean lead guitar despite the ache of a failing kidney and a possible slipped disc in his back. Prescription drugs help the pain; doctors’ orders help him avoid carrying any loads up or down 49 steps (although you could tell he wanted to do his part).

They’re playing through the pain—financially. An independent band with no safety net, driving around in a van with a trailer as gasoline prices are skyrocketing, doesn’t make for much money at the end of the day. At the merchandise table, the band’s donation jar for their Ramen noodle fund tells the story: You’ve got to be a hard working band to make music.

You see, that’s the thing: Sarcasm has the music. Hooky power rock emerging from an Emo sound that blends back into full-on hard rock, the blend found in Sarcasm’s top inspiration, Our Lady Peace, but a blend also heard in Smile Empty Soul, Breaking Benjamin, and Thrice. While rhythm guitarist Brad Franklin handles lead vocals, when bassist Keri Boyd adds her vocals on sections like the chorus of “What We’re Made Of,” there’s the operatic chime tones in the vocal line like Amy Lee and Evanescence. A major ingredient in Sarcasm’s music is the 3-part harmonies of Brad, Keri, and Mike that rain down over the power rock, a melodious approach often not found in hard rock of this type. Our Lady Peace may be the first inspiration name-checked by Sarcasm, but there’s none of OLP’s whine in Sarcasm’s style. While many bands have chosen to take the pop hooks of classic rock combined with screamed out vocals of hard rock, Sarcasm uses well-placed screams, using them as punctuation and exclamation, such as on the dynamic dimensions of the call-response chorus of “Say It Again.”

While the teenage groupies of the opening bands were still outside smoking, Sarcasm opened their half hour set with “Just Go,” the first track from their upcoming second EP. The opening blitz on this song sounds like “Beggars and Choosers” from Hang Time-era Soul Asylum. Sarcasm doesn’t really remain in the Garage Band vein, but there’s hints of that sound crossing over. Also, while Justin noted that he was more of a fan of classic rock than his bandmates, riffs like Mike’s lead guitar on “Just Go” are undeniably classic.

And that’s good, because so much of hard rock has become a constant wall of guitar and screams, with very little space given for creating anticipation or differentiation. It’s like one constant knockout punch with no jabs, fakes, or footwork. With Sarcasm’s classic sense of rock as part of their revved-up Emo, you get separation in guitar work. You get the anticipation of Keri’s bass entrance. Justin’s drum fills and breaks work to heighten or release tension. Here the only thing I kept wanting was more than full breaks from Justin. Most of their songs hit a punch with a complete band break. I think Justin could lead the band to find smaller, just as effective, break points.

You can hear the band’s ability to use rhythm to create that rising action and turning point in a song like “Say It Again,” which hits a ¾ waltz section. Hard rocking waltz tempo that Grandma never imagined, and neither does a hard rock listener. Sarcasm grabs your attention with moves like this, and they’d do well to utilize such punctuation even more.

Finally, from their tireless touring comes a stage show more than worth the cover charge, more than worth the time of any festival audience this summer. Using all wireless guitar packs means Keri, Brad, and Mike are constantly on the move, spinning, dodging, ducking, and pulling the music of the motion. Mike can go from looking far too casual for hard rock to a throw down thrash guitarist using a cymbal to play a guitar solo. Brad kept the rhythm vamp going while standing on Justin’s kick drum. This is music just made for the visual of a skateboarder or snowboarder on a half pipe, racing with intensity and speed, hitting the top rail—pausing, maybe spinning in the air, catching air and everyone’s breath—before diving right back down with just as much speed, cranking out the song all the way to the finish.

Please check Sarcasm’s Website for upcoming tour dates and EP release info.

Hard Rock: Elvehjem
Opening the evening at the Warehouse was Elvehjem whose songs were full-on, thrash-punk-hard rock fueled by screaming but songs that also have an art or prog rock aspect of being like one minute pieces collaged together. Their first song had a Smashing Pumpkins-like overture led into a hard rock sound.

While Elvehjem’s set was plagued by bassist Fred Ludwig breaking two strings, the band courageously pressed on, as on “Atonement,” featuring Ludwig’s valiant effort to continue only on three strings. This actually was one of the strongest songs for the set due to its straight-forward punk rhythm.

Rhythmically, the band is led by drummer Scott Fischer, who also marches snare for the University of Wisconsin-Madison band. Fischer has the chops, using his marching band stick work to help lead these collage-like songs. However, his precision and attempts towards complex rhythms doesn’t seem to fit the abilities of the others. Fischer has trouble keeping everyone together as they shift tempos and rhythms.

Garage Rock: Promise the Moon
As the daylight savings time light faded through the uncurtained windows of the Warehouse, Promise the Moon played their ska-infected skate punk. Reminiscent of Relient K, Five Iron Frenzy, and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Promise the Moon’s ska sound is pushed along by trombone and the rhythm section.

However, what’s strong here are some melodic qualities in the double vocals with guitarist and bassist playing off each other in sparked-up fashion. They need to be careful, though, to make sure their drummer doesn’t overpower the melodious lines with too much hard rock driving force.

The La Crosse show was the band’s first in quite awhile, but the band is starting to get back on the stage more often. They’re hoping to play the Lifest Christian Music Festival in Oshkosh, WI this summer, and there’s enough potential in Promise the Moon that I’d be glad to see them on a Lifest stage.

The Warehouse
Steve Harms owns and runs the Warehouse in downtown La Crosse. Begun in 1991, the club was almost lost 12 years ago when the building they rented space in was almost sold out from under them. With no banks wanting to give Harm and his then-business partner a loan for such a project, it looked like the club would be a brief-lived venue. However, a last minute letter to the editor from local teens who didn’t want to lose such a club moved a local bank to step forward to make it possible for Harm to buy the building. Always all ages, always no smoking, and always 49 steps into the La Crosse skyline, the Warehouse seems to be a part of a revival of downtown La Crosse which makes downtown a great place to be. Find some great eats in downtown, and then you’re sure to find some incredible music at the Warehouse.

Thanks again to Keri, Brad, Justin, and Mike (Sarcasm) and to Steve and the staff at .