Post by Kevin on Mar 25, 2003 10:34:45 GMT -5
Band: Gravitron
Album: The Dawning of the Finite Moment of Now
Format: CD
Label: 4 Walls
Time: 47 Minutes
Year: 2003
Track List:
The Finite Moment of Now
Stone Fox
Detailing a Diesel
Going Nowhere
Slider
The Meatman Cometh
Old Fashioned Duel in the Modern Age
Cotton Candy Queen
High Flyer
The Rise of the Mastodon
The Extinction of the Mastodon
Pour it in My Hands (For a Dime)
Band Site and Cover Photo: www.feelgravitron.com/pages/4/index.htm
If any of you band members out there have ever despaired from playing to an empty house or wondered if what you’re doing really matters, consider this: the Illinois dudes in Gravitron formed a band as a direct result of an Immortal Lee County Killers/Glasspack/Nebula gig at the Double Door in Chicago. Talk about touching people! So rest assured, you could inspire the formation of the next great band simply by showing up at your next gig and playing your heart out. But I didn’t need to tell you that, did I?
Gravitron formed in 2001 after seeing the above-referenced bill. Right away they had this bohemian multi-media thing going, working with and inspiring local visual artists with their music. Their musical approach is inspired by theories promulgated by the German Expressionist movement Die Brucke (The Bridge), which makes points with me, ‘cause I dig Kandinsky and Marc as much as the next reviewer, let me tell ya. Hell, they even got The Glasspack’s Dirty Dave Johnson to do their cover art, which features Spaceship Earth surrounded by fireballs. Nice colors, Dave!
So what about the music? Its diverse, to say the least, and almost as hard to pigeonhole as Cable. It starts off rather synthy and spacey, not too heavy. But look out, ‘cause the fuzz is coming…’Stone Fox’ brings on a slow-tempo Hawkwind-in-the-desert feel, with weird vocals. ‘Detailing A Diesel’ is more straightforward, with some cool retro keys a la Smoke in Sunshine’s new sound. The vocals have an interesting, arty edge at times, with an almost Robin Zander or Cars-like sound; at other times they’re totally distorted and sludgey. ‘Slider’ has a cool psych. feel, although I’m not much for the panned, whispered vox. ‘The Meatman Cometh’ is more like it, with gruff vocals and inventive, stoned, garagey riffage, while ‘Old Fashioned Duel in the Modern Age’ has an punk/sludge feel, which is even more prominent in my fave tune, ‘The Rise of the Mastodon.’ Overall the sound is quite good, but I’d love to hear it tightened up with the help of someone like Billy Anderson, Steve Austin, or Paul Hamann.
‘The Dawning of the Finite Moment of Now’ is a nice first effort, with a pleasingly stoned hard n’ fuzzy sound with lots of hard, crunchy guitar and memorable riffs. I’d recommend this to those of you who want to get in on the ground floor of some off-kilter, edgy, inventive psychedelia with some intelligence behind it.
Kevin McHugh
Album: The Dawning of the Finite Moment of Now
Format: CD
Label: 4 Walls
Time: 47 Minutes
Year: 2003
Track List:
The Finite Moment of Now
Stone Fox
Detailing a Diesel
Going Nowhere
Slider
The Meatman Cometh
Old Fashioned Duel in the Modern Age
Cotton Candy Queen
High Flyer
The Rise of the Mastodon
The Extinction of the Mastodon
Pour it in My Hands (For a Dime)
Band Site and Cover Photo: www.feelgravitron.com/pages/4/index.htm
If any of you band members out there have ever despaired from playing to an empty house or wondered if what you’re doing really matters, consider this: the Illinois dudes in Gravitron formed a band as a direct result of an Immortal Lee County Killers/Glasspack/Nebula gig at the Double Door in Chicago. Talk about touching people! So rest assured, you could inspire the formation of the next great band simply by showing up at your next gig and playing your heart out. But I didn’t need to tell you that, did I?
Gravitron formed in 2001 after seeing the above-referenced bill. Right away they had this bohemian multi-media thing going, working with and inspiring local visual artists with their music. Their musical approach is inspired by theories promulgated by the German Expressionist movement Die Brucke (The Bridge), which makes points with me, ‘cause I dig Kandinsky and Marc as much as the next reviewer, let me tell ya. Hell, they even got The Glasspack’s Dirty Dave Johnson to do their cover art, which features Spaceship Earth surrounded by fireballs. Nice colors, Dave!
So what about the music? Its diverse, to say the least, and almost as hard to pigeonhole as Cable. It starts off rather synthy and spacey, not too heavy. But look out, ‘cause the fuzz is coming…’Stone Fox’ brings on a slow-tempo Hawkwind-in-the-desert feel, with weird vocals. ‘Detailing A Diesel’ is more straightforward, with some cool retro keys a la Smoke in Sunshine’s new sound. The vocals have an interesting, arty edge at times, with an almost Robin Zander or Cars-like sound; at other times they’re totally distorted and sludgey. ‘Slider’ has a cool psych. feel, although I’m not much for the panned, whispered vox. ‘The Meatman Cometh’ is more like it, with gruff vocals and inventive, stoned, garagey riffage, while ‘Old Fashioned Duel in the Modern Age’ has an punk/sludge feel, which is even more prominent in my fave tune, ‘The Rise of the Mastodon.’ Overall the sound is quite good, but I’d love to hear it tightened up with the help of someone like Billy Anderson, Steve Austin, or Paul Hamann.
‘The Dawning of the Finite Moment of Now’ is a nice first effort, with a pleasingly stoned hard n’ fuzzy sound with lots of hard, crunchy guitar and memorable riffs. I’d recommend this to those of you who want to get in on the ground floor of some off-kilter, edgy, inventive psychedelia with some intelligence behind it.
Kevin McHugh