Blips: Three Under The Radar Bands
In our never-ending quest to dig up some great bands that cost less than a corned beef sandwich at Katz’s Deli, we bring you another round of Blips. Blips highlights some great bands that are largely still in their larvae stage, but will soon morph into their beautiful butterfly. In this edition, we have some really cool new music, so take a sec, poke around their various websites, and see what you think of these three under the radar musical groups…
The Answer
I could easily start this out by saying Ireland’s The Answer is a “mid level band struggling with their own limitations in the harsh face of stardom” considering they sound remarkably like Stillwater – the fictional band from Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous. The Answer are the living embodiment of a modern Classic Rock band, with lead singer Cormac Neeson looking like he just stepped straight of central casting for the part with his long hair and Robert Plant meets Geddy Lee-inspired vocals. The band’s arena-ready hard rock sound derives heavy influences from the likes of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and any other number of like-minded bands from that era.
I recently caught The Answer playing an abbreviated in-store set where they rocked the place like it was MSG with blistering guitar solos and Neeson’s charismatic stage swagger. The band recently released their first stateside EP, Never Too Late, and currently have the high profile task of holding down the opening slot for AC/DC on their world tour that stretches into summer of 2009, but will also return stateside for headlining tour of their own.
READ ON for our profiles of Joe Pug and Viva…
Viva
Tomorrow night, one of the more inventive guitarists in the scene brings her la Sextet featuring Peter Apfelbaum to Southpaw in Brooklyn and you’d be wise not to miss it. Melodramatic strummer Viva DeConcini is a five-tool musician equally capable of dropping Hendrix-like blues solos and powerful dynamic vocals. You hear the phrase genre-defying bandied about pretty frequently these days, but Viva’s music ranges from Zappa to Genesis to Fela Kuti often within the same song.
After spending years as a founding member of Cyro Baptista’s Beat The Donkey, Viva has spent the last few years honing her chops on the singer/songwriter coffeehouse circuit. Her latest album, Electric Cabaret Volume One and Volume Two, is a single disc split into two completely separate segments. Visionary composer and sax star Peter Apfelbaum co-wrote, arranged and plays on the first five lush orchestrated rockers with his 11 piece band The NY Hieroglyphics. The disc ends with Viva playing a batch of concise style-bending pieces by herself showing off her diverse talents. One day Viva will crossover to a wider audience and we won’t be surprised at all.
Joe Pug
Just like that feller from Minnesota showed us during the ’60s and that other feller from the Dust Bowl showed us during the ’40s, when shit gets fucked up, the world turns to folk music. And in case you have been living in um, a coma, shit is officially fucked up. Well, this time around, the world can turn to Joe Pug.
With his tranquil guitar picking, familiar harmonica, Greg Brady looks and cogent lyrics, Joe Pug has all the necessities in his knapsack to take the torch this time around, slowing things down and helping us all feel like it‘s gonna be alright. Just 23 years old, Pug has that knack for singing from the heart and sounding like he has ridden the rails, drank the whiskey and seen it all. Now, he has the stories to tell.
Touring incessantly on a wave of astonishing acclaim for his timely debut E.P., Nation of Heat, Joe Pug is quickly achieving what most singer-songwriters spend their entire lives pursuing… authenticity.
- Rupert
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