thePULSEHere are bands and artists you may not have heard of yet…but they have major potential and you get to read about them here, right before they make it big! And “Graduates” are musicians we highlighted in past issues whose careers, as we predicted, have really taken off!
BAND: Desiccation
By Alex Kantarelis
Add one to the many flavors of metal that Worcester has to offer: Desiccation is bringing their brand of death metal to to the table, and they have youth on their side. Ranging from 16 to 19 years old, they redefine teen angst with their vicious death metal sound.
But it’s not age that matters, it’s experience. The band has been playing together for the past 2 years and already has a full length under their belt. The album (which is currently available on iTunes) was self-titled, and can be summed up by the title of track two: “Tiredsickhungrypissed.” Fans of The Acacia Strain and The Black Dahlia Murder, take notice.
The guys have played their fair share of big shows, too, as well and festivals. Most recently they took the stage at Transmission Fest at The Palladium in Worcester, alongside some huge names like Silverstein, Story of the Year, Therefore I Am, and A Loss for Words. Even with the big shows acting as a possible ego-drug, guitarist Jack Cain stays humble and describes it by saying, “We got to open for some pretty sweet tours.” Pretty sweet indeed.
One of the best things that happened to the band was meeting their drummer, James Davis, who also does all their recordings in his basement studio. Amazingly, the band found Davis on YouTube.
And that basement studio is where they’ll be working on The Carving Apollo EP, which will showcase their musical expertise more than ever. The 6 song EP will feature “…heavier and more progressive and technical songs,” Cain said, and it should be out in the next few months.
With the release of the new EP Cain looks towards the future. “We definitely want to go on tour,” he said. Until then, we’ll have to wait patiently for the new EP.
You can stream the album Dessication for free, and find out more about the band and upcoming gigs, at myspace.com/desiccationmetal.
BAND: Death to New England
By Bruce Sullivan
For some, rock and roll is a career choice; for others, it’s a a harmless diversion on the road to adulthood. But for Jimmy Jude Cooney, leader of the punk- pop band Death to New England, there never was really any choice. Growing up, Cooney always “…knew that Rock and Roll was the most important thing… would always be part of my life. When I’m seventy, I’ll need a guitar or keyboard around.”
Death to New England rose from the ashes of The Battle Cats, when Cooney, principle songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist, teamed up with Cats lead guitarist Sean Beirne to form the core of this band. Though most songs are presented as complete entities, Cooney is quick to cite the importance of “riff rocker” Beirne to the band’s sound. “I trust Sean; he’s my right hand man. I may come in with the guitar part, but Sean is free to riff over the top of it, and the band may come up with a different melody.” The addition of drummer Joe Reed and Little Jo Szymanski, the band’s only female member (bass, guitar, and backing vocals), completed the line-up in late 2009.
The band’s sound may be described as punk, but it has a real pop sensibility. With urgency Cooney declares, “Every note I try to write is American Pop…If I could write a pop song that truly means something to people, that would mean everything.” Influences include The Kinks, Ramones, Springsteen and Tom Petty, whom Cooney argues is one of “America’s greatest songwriters.”
Though the band aims for pop, the punk attitude is reflected in songs like “Spoiled” and “NY, NY.” Cooney confides, “I’ve always believed that I was set up for some sort of rejection of some kind.” The name Death to New England is itself a rejection of the W.A.S.P. elitism that persists in some corners of this region. This may explain why the band aims “to slowly conquer our region,” by repeatedly hitting working class neighborhoods like Worcester, Northhanpton, Hartford, and Brooklyn, NY with high energy live shows that force audience involvement. The strategy is working as fans and even Sire Records have begun to take notice. Check out these rising stars at an upcoming gig or at myspace.com/deathtonewengland.
BAND: Sandal Machine Foot
By Alex Kantarelis
It’s time for Worcester to get funky. Welcome Sandal Machine Foot, described by their drummer Vinny Cirigliano as an “axperimental-funktastic-rock band” who have been tearing it up all over Central MA.
While this band may be up and comers, they formed in 2004 and have built quite the resume that other bands can only dream of having. They’ve also gone through a bunch of lineup changes during their 6 year existence. Most recently, they’ve been playing as a three-piece, with Sean McLaughlin on guitar, Matt Hain on bass, and Vinny Cirigliano taking on the double duty of drums and lead vocals. That’ss right, the drummer sings, making this band more unique than any other in the area.
They have put out 2 official albums and recorded a 3rd that was never released. Most recently was the 2008 full-length Sandal Machine Foot, not to be confused with their debut 2006 album which featured a slight difference in spelling: Sandle Machine Foot. In 2007, they recorded an album called Adapt which never got an official release but is now available to stream on their Facebook page.
Singing while playing drums may seem like a challenge to most musicians, but it doesn’t worry Cirigliano, who has been playing drums for 16 years. “It’s kind of like choreography. You have to think about how everything sounds together. Not what your arms are doing,” he said.
In 2008, the band hit the road with funk-rock veterans Hypaspace for a 3 week east coast and midwest tour, which kicked off by bringing a capacity crowd to Ralph’s Diner. The tour landed them an acoustic set live on the radio in Michigan. “It was great exposure. The day that we got on the radio we had like 5000 hits on Myspace,” Cirigliano said.
Since then, they have been playing live all over the area and plan on touring again in 2011. The future looks bright for Sandal Machine Foot. Stay funky and check them out on Facebook, Myspace, and iTunes.
Sandalmachinefoot.com is a direct link to the band’s myspace.
