White Devils play rock and roll. Sitting
here with the jukebox on FaceBook blaring away, a living anachronism is
invoked: Rock with an old-school, mid-sixties feel, recorded in a lo-fi way
that captures the band somehow, transmitted via the internet, accessed through
the mind of Mark Zuckerberg.
Growing out of
the West End, this band is a four-piece who have been active for the last few
months. The line-up, as listed on FB, is Stimbot - guitar/vox, Jonas
Parmelee - Bass/back vox, Richie Rebounds - Guitar, Matthew Donnelly – Skins.
This music is permeated with
references that strike at the very roots of rock history. The Rolling Stones
and The Stooges are two groups that spring to mind. Possibly NY Dolls to a
degree. The Velvet Underground gets a mention more in terms of the ‘spirit of the
times’; at times they share a passing resemblance to an over-driven version of
the band.
Even in terms of
their appearance, the throwback quality is there. In fact, the memory remains
of the August 9th show at Firehouse that in their respective mode of
dress one could draw parallels to the various influences at work- punk, garage
rock, indie, alternative. Normally the intent is to avoid this type of
commentary, but the fact was so self-evident as to be striking.
In a very real
sense, these guys are more proto-punk, harkening back to the roots of punk.
This may seem redundant, but in the corner of the musical world they operate
in, ‘Punk’ is still the aesthetic that is very much dominant.
As mentioned
already, the production on the FB jukebox is lo-fi by the standards of now.
However, it is felt that this type of presentation is much more suited to the
bands temperament than something glossy. I really think that a more polished
production style would hamper them.
The songs
themselves are a generally memorable set. ‘The World Ain’t Round Baby, it’s
square” got me all excited the first time I listened to it. And then I found
myself singing the chorus later on at work. Jason knows how to walk the fine line
between singing and yelling, and the rawness of his vocal tone adds some
urgency to the melody. Add to that a
memorable hook in the chorus and a timeless quality ala “Time is on My Side”
and I think this song will be listened to down the line.
Moving through
each song on the FB player moves to a different style of rock. Moving to the
second song in the player, All In, we find an uptempo, hook-driven tune with
something of a Stooges influence. Comparing this song to the first drives home
the ever-present influence that timbre brings to bear on songcraft in
electrified guitar music. Trading timbres with the first song would destroy
everything.
‘Monday Night
Girl’ is much more pop, with a catchy vocal hook; ‘No Protection’ is based on
twelve bar blues. ‘My Weakness’ is another poppy number, but a style of pop
that strikes me as being more in line with something from the soundtrack to
Stand By Me.
If there were any
one area where things seem like they could be improved, I would posit the lead
guitar work. There were a couple of times during the show where it seemed like
Ritchie Rebounds was holding back to a degree, and this had a temporary
dampening effect on the energy. The same thing appears on the recordings at a
couple of spots. I don’t know what he is feeling shy about; he can play. There
were interesting ideas in his solos. They just need to be pushed into the world
with a little more confidence.
All in all, White
Devils is a talented group who put on a great show. Straight up, no frills rock
and roll that will get you moving. Dig it.
White Devils can be found online at:
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment