[Imc-events] 2/2: SLOWRIDE, D.A.R.Y.L., THE BUZZARDS

[Arun Bhalla]

Great rock this Sunday at the IMC with Slowride, D.A.R.Y.L., and the Buzzards. 
7:30pm doors, 8pm rock, $5, all ages, byob if 21+.

SLOWRIDE (on Deep Elm Records) 
Firing on all cylinders with their hearts on their sleeves, SLOWRIDE's
brand of hook-laden, melodic rock is head-bobbing, energetic,
aggressive and in-your-face. A layering of punk guitars behind catchy
melodies and smooth vocals, AS I SURVIVE THE SUICIDE BOMBER is a
smartly served dose of perfectly executed, pop-fueled punk. The
full-frontal, three-pronged attack of Dan Phillips, Rob Marchant and
Steve Visneau is a powerhouse combination, allowing the songs
themselves to be the stars. Combined with an air of maturity that few
bands can match, these anthem-rock misfits embrace an impeccable band
member chemistry rarely displayed. SLOWRIDE is a band not only to be
heard, but to be seen.

True to SLOWRIDE's brand of emotional punk, Phillips belts out lyrics
for the bruised and battered at heart, and you can't help but sing
along. His poignant lyrics and raw voice embody the extremes of
fortitude and total surrender. Their songs, whether playful and
sarcastic or heartfelt and honest, are delivered with a unique
aesthetic that is fresh, full of energy and powerful. SUICIDE BOMBER
is a truly inspirational, punk masterpiece...and it's done so damn
well. Not since Jawbreaker has any band so successfully combined
heartbreaking melody and white noise. SLOWRIDE breathes new life into
punk rock. Hear it, see it, believe it.

SLOWRIDE is Dan Phillips (guitar, vocals), Steve Visneau (drums) and
Rob Marchant (bass). Their debut full-length "As I Survive The Suicide
Bomber" was produced by Ed Rose (Appleseed Cast, Get Up Kids, Small
Brown Bike, Brandtson, Casket Lottery) at Red House in Lawrence,
Kansas. Slowride appears on Emo Diaries, Chapter 5 with the song
"Daydreams of a Future." A six song split CD EP with Dallas labelmates
Red Animal War is also available.

D.A.R.Y.L. (on Idol Records) 
[D.A.R.Y.L.] (Data Analyzing Robotic Youth Lifeform) is named after
the early 80's film about a robotic boy who learns to have
feelings. Their sound has been compared to everything from The Cars to
The Police to the Murder City Devils. As a band they have been playing
together for 2.5 years and have toured extensively in the Midwest and
once up the East Coast, including dates with the Old 97's, the
Toadies, Paris, TX, Cursive and Milemarker. After their second show
ever in Lawrence, KS they made a deal with a small label to put out a
5-song EP, now out of print, which was followed by a 2 song 7" EP on
Quality Park Records out of Denton, TX. Finally, in the sumer of 2001,
they released their first full-length "concept" record, The
Technology, on Beatville Records out of Washington, DC. Their new
self-titled release is their first on Idol Records.

(review) 
I refuse to be held accountable, for example, for growing up in
Texas. If there was a local music scene in Dallas in the early
Eighties, other than Gary Myrick before he moved to LA, then nobody I
knew knew about it. I know some Dallas bands now, but none I feel
strongly enough about to doubt that my new favorite is the quartet
[DARYL], whose five-song debut EP came out recently on Urinine, a
label I only know because they did Park Ave.'s When Jamie Went to
London. [DARYL] aren't a neo-New Wave band in the literal sense that
Barcelona, FBH and bis are, but guitarists David Wilson and Dylan
Silvers both also play keyboards, which these days is usually
sufficiently damning. The interesting thing, though, is that without
the keyboards I'm pretty sure [DARYL] would sound more like Braid than
anybody else, making them one of the fairly small number of emo/New
Wave bands, and the only one, I think, that takes full advantage of
the combinatorial possibilities. And the really interesting thing, at
least to me, is that the overall effect of the cross between
guitar-driven emo intensity and New Wave synthesizer intricacy ends up
placing them, in my taxonomy of how noises move me, alongside two of
my very favorite forgotten bands, Cactus World News and Payola$,
neither of whom I'd have previously thought to describe in terms of
emo or synth-pop. Cactus World News were U2 prot g s, but for me Urban
Beaches, their one album, represents the perfection of the raw,
anthemic style U2 developed through War, but then abandoned to make
the more textural The Unforgettable Fire. Payola$ began by making
reggae-infused punk-pop, but eventually evolved a mastery of emotional
drama that leads me to think of them as their era's counterpart to
Radiohead circa Pablo Honey and The Bends. What happened to Cactus
World News, I have no idea. Traces of Payola$ are easier to find,
since their guitar player, Bob Rock, is now one of the few producers
that people who don't know producers might know anyway. Apparently I'm
the only one who really misses the style, though, otherwise Cliffs of
Dooneen would never have broken up, the Frank & Walters and the Frames
would be doing American arena tours, and the Sheila Divine would have
become superstars months ago.  For five songs, though, I can pretend
some perverse logistical problems were responsible for those failures,
and [DARYL] will soon start collecting the pent-up acclaim all those
other bands deserved. Keening guitars and circling keyboard drones
propel the jagged, pealing "Bottle Rocket". Buzzing synthesizers and
slashing guitars lace "Radio's Replaceable", a skeptical bookend for
Grace Pool's "Radio Religion". "Duration" sounds like a cross between
Braid, Fugazi and late-period The Who. "Petition" is the EP's simplest
guitar song, but "Last Impression" is slow and grand, bass
synthesizers humming, guitars entering with timeless flourishes, rock
like a more humane Gary Numan might have made, or a more technical
Buffalo Tom. As assiduously as I support small labels, this is one of
the occasional moments when I wish I had signing rights for a
major. Not only do I want millions of casual listeners to hear
[DARYL], but more importantly, I want hundreds of irresolute bands to
hear them. I want this to be the template incompetent bands miscopy,
instead of Kid Rock or NSync. I want rock to be, when it hasn't the
wits to be anything better, at least fearless and heroic. I want us to
aspire, when we don't know what we want, to catharsis, because every
once in a while, what we aspire to, we achieve.

THE BUZZARDS 
If you haven't seen the Buzzards yet, you're missing out. They
straddle the line between alt-country and indie rock, and they
straddle it well, with occasionally psychedelic and/or experimental
parts, but never the less, they're damn good songs by damn fine
musicians.