Two SD Bands With Sweet Guitar Solos
Not enough local bands email me to tell me about their shows or MP3s, and I'll be damned if I dip my toe into the uncharted waters of venturing out to venues completely blind. We've all been there, usually when you move to a new town, or start school somewhere. One new friend convinces you to just head out to a club where an unknown band is playing, or go see a movie that you never even knew existed. In an effort to prove your open mindedness to this free spirit, you go along, and by the end of the worst two hours of your life you are fairly sure that you never want to speak to that person again, but iyou know with absolute certainty if you ever hear the phrase "going in blind" again in your life, you will render the person saying it unable to participate in an activity in any other manner than that for the rest of their life. (If you couldn't tell, I recently got burned going into something blind. It was a movie, and it was called Brick. You know how ignorant people look at a Jackson Pollock painting and say 'My five year old could have done that?' Well your average ninth grader absolutely could make a better movie than Brick. Never in my life have I regretted not chosing to go see Phat Girlz more.)
Fortunately, here I am to recommend to local bands to everyone, and just in time for some kick ass shows. First up is Firethorn, who played at the Tiki's local showcase last week, which I missed, but also are playing at Blind Melon's tomorrow with Vintage Honey. Firethorn I guess you could say are rooted in punk, but obviously they're not so far into the realm of punk where I would not be mentioning them on this website. In the way that Nirvana was punk, in terms of heavy power chords, and frayed vocals, that's how Firethorn is punk. Not shouting indistinguishably and generally making everyone miserable around them. Both Reflecting Pond and Make Me Cry on their myspace page capture this kind of spirit, and both feature promient guitar solos that hopefully wail even harder at Blind Melons.
Next is Road Noise. I met the guy front and center in this picture on National High Five Day, and as soon as I found out he was in a rockabilly punk band, I knew it couldn't miss. This was before I even saw him in the White Suit and cowboy hat. Road Noise has four songs from their demo up on the internet, and while the recording mix isn't the best I've ever heard, I think that the energy that the band undoubtedly has in a live performance is adequately conveyed through the singers voice and the spot on extended guitar solos. They will assuredly deliver the goods when they rock the Parkway Bar in La Mesa on May 13th. My favorite song is Daddy's Drunk, but three more are available online as well, BEG, Rumble Town and Three On A Tree.
http://www.myspace.com/Firethornrock
http://www.road-noise.com
http://www.myspace.com/roadnoisemusic
