Bands, clubs, artists, and businesses that you may not have heard of yet…but that we think are going to make a name for themselves really soon ~ and you get to hear about them here, right before they make it big!

BAND/CD
Never Enough Bullets
By Matt Erhartic

Author’s/Editor’s note: When a band arms themselves with a moniker such as “Never Enough Bullets,” it suggests that you probably won’t catch them playing a set of Joni Mitchell covers down at the Java Hut, but it also might be considered inflammatory given recent incidents and the climate in today’s society. Reassuringly, guitarist Jeff Mealey clarifies that the name is “…more about attitude than definition,” adding that “It’s not really about violence at all, it’s more so out of being frustrated with things that go on in the world. It’s just a name that sticks out…”

Jeff Mealey almost had it all. The local guitarist had record label reps ears perked as his former mid-nineties outfit Mad Pedestrian strong-armed the scene with their brand of thunder inducing hard rock. But in a Behind The Music minute, their castle in the sky of tour buses and rock-n-roll decadence was taken away from them as inevitable growing pains and stress reared their collective ugly head. “We were young, easy to be taken advantage of, stubborn with each other mostly,” Mealey explains. “It was all the mix for a disaster.”

Mealey, along with former Mad Pedestrian drummer Andy Saphier and bassist Billy Naze, continued to collaborate, hatching ideas looking to recapture some magic from their glory days. A posting the trio threw up on My Space led vocalist Ian Watt to inquire about the band of musicians who have shared the stage with some of biggest names in hard rock, including Godsmack and Disturbed. Watt’s raw, emotional charged lyrics combined with the group’s mega-watt, take no prisoners attitude sparked the right chemistry for the band to pick up where they had left off. With guns drawn, Never Enough Bullets was born.

The name suits their sort of hard rock well. The grinding riffs and angry punk nihilism are hard enough to chip a tooth ~ but the group doesn’t shy away from applying anthemic inspired hooks. As if Nirvana gave birth to Pantera’s love child with Sabbath blasting in the delivery room ~ this is an aggro-rock lover’s dream. High octane tracks like “Daddy’s Angry Juice” and “Perfect Day” could force a barroom to fisticuffs. What’s truly impressive is that as you find yourself stumbling out black and blued from the scuffle, you’ll still be humming the tunes as you apply an ice pack to the wounds.

A “Rocky” inspired second chance at the big time is the primary focus for this determined group. “The plan is to get signed. We’d be lying to you if we said anything else,” Mealey confesses. “And watch it happen this time.”

Check out NEB at the Lucky Dog Nov 16th. neverenoughbullets.com

________________________________________________

BAND
KULTUR
By Christine R. Walsh

Somewhere ~ deep within the confines of a Framingham basement practice space ~ a dark and dangerous musical force is at work. Their electric, darkly seductive riffs and gut-twisting lyrics pull you in. The songs force you to surrender to the beat. But this black magic wasn’t perfected overnight. The boys of Kultur (pronounced Kull-ter) are slaves to their musical passion, practicing three nights a week for four hours at a time and getting ready for their first full-length studio album.

Lead vocalist Adam Sloan, 25, had a few minutes before another grueling practice to speak with Pulse. He revealed that although the first album is scheduled to be released in Spring ’08, the band has been honing their skills with fierce dedication for four years.

“We started in Oct. ‘04,” said Sloan. “Our former bass player and I were in Worcester, looking for band members. We were trying to find people but we couldn’t find anyone in Worcester who we met eye-to-eye with. From there, we went to Guitar Centers and malls looking for ads from musicians.”

In a stroke of heavy metal serendipity, Sloan found Tyson DeBrito (28 and the lead guitarist) and Jeff Belcher (24 and the drummer.) DeBrito and Belcher were brothers looking to start a band, so the four musicians got together. When the bass player decided to pursue other ventures, the remaining three found 21 year-old Joe Harasyko. Thus, Kultur was conceived.

“Jeff came up with the [band] name,” Sloan said. “We wanted to get something that was a little vague that would let people could come up with their own meaning. The translation in German is literally ‘culture.’”

In addition to their first album, Kultur has released two well-received EPs. The first, a self-titled EP, was released in 2005, followed by “One Must Decide Chaos” released in 2006. The band has been getting airplay on WAAF, too, to rave reviews.

Despite the long hours the members of Kultur spend together, there is no feuding between the personalities, reported Sloan. “We just click. Tyron will write a riff and Jeff will present a drum beat on the spot. Joe and I watch them just create. Then I write the all of the lyrics. There’s no one that is the exclusive number one song writer but that’s why we work well together. We all listen to each other.”

Sloan says he uses his own life experiences to fuel his lyrical fires, but he does so with the utmost humility.

“Like anyone else, I’ve been through a few hard times in my life,” Sloan revealed. “I like to peel away the veil of life that people have in front of their eyes. I’m not very happy with how selfish the world is. It seems in today’s world that people are much more interested in speaking rather than listening. If there is any message in my lyrics it’s to listen to other people. “

The fans love Kultur. At concerts, they go crazy in circle pits, dancing wildly to the driving guitar riffs and deep, raw undulations of Sloan’s vocals. They lose themselves in songs like “Legion” or “Broken Fist.” And nothing could make the members of Kultur happier.

“The last show we played was at the Palladium upstairs,” said Sloan. “There were like 30 kids in a circle pit, just flailing arms and going crazy. But it’s great because if someone falls down, the person next to them helps them right up. It’s a release. Even if it’s ‘bout something like the bills you can’t pay, for 30 or 45 minutes you can get all the BS, the frustration out.”

For more information on Kultur, go to myspace.com/kulturmusic.

_______________________________________________

BAND
Evenspeak
By Matt Erhartic

Judging by rock-n-roll’s presence on the Billboard charts, you would think that Bill Clinton were still in office. In a world where High School Musicals and Hanna Montantas dominate the charts, the sounds of mid 1990s post grunge and hard rock seem to be the only rock-n-roll with any shelf life in the music stores. Nickelback and Daughtry have single handedly kept rock retail afloat; crushing sales numbers and radio spins over every “Next Big Thing” or indie-rock flavor of the week. Why? It’s a familiar sound ~ making you feel all warm and cozy like Mom’s Sunday night meatloaf. Call it the “new” classic rock, a term that local favorites Evenspeak have coined to describe their brand of flannel-friendly music.

With a recently released disc, Void of Course, and a seemingly endless number of club dates, the Central/ Western MA based quintet is looking to win em’ over one by one with their brand of no frills, 90s tinted bar rock.

Evenspeak sticks to the classic rock blueprint (verse, chorus, verse) but is able to personalize the stock arrangements with solid production and great performances. There’s nothing flashy or challenging going on here ~ this is, refreshingly, the good ol’ fashioned blue collar working man’s “rawk.”

Lead singer and guitarist JB has all the makings of a great front man with lyrics of hope and heartache growled through early Rob Thomas-cum-John Mellancamp-esque Southern fried soul. His booming gruff baritone gives the floor stompers like “Better than the Rest” some real muscle ~ propelling the tunes from bar band ordinary to arena rock extraordinary.

Whereas tracks such as “Crazy/Beautiful” and “Maybe Someday” provide the perfect late summer keg party soundtrack, the band finds some real honest strength in its ballads. “Carry Me Home” nicks a bit from “Moonlight Sonata” (yes, the classical piano piece) and a melody that you might have mistaken for an old Bob Seger tune. Often bands trip up the ballad formula by smothering it with too much sonic saccharine, but Evenspeak gets it right by stripping it down to the core ~ a bittersweet confession cooed over a chilling ivory melody.

Masterfully recorded by Enoch Jensen at East Lake Studios, Void of Course proves that a good song ~ regardless of its roots or motive ~ is timeless. The band has captured this appeal on their new album and shouldn’t have a hard time finding a wider audience.

So go ahead and dig out your old Doc Martins, Evenspeak has made the 1990s sound fresh all over again.

Catch Evenspeak at Classics Pub in Leominster Nov 16.

www.evenspeak.com