AQUABEAR LEGION

by Laura McMullen

The first few songs on Cleveland native, Tom Evanchuck’s album, Tom, have lots of talk about train stations, roads, coming home, etc.—the usual sort of reflective, acoustic shtick. But at about two tracks in, it’s clear Tom makes it work better than most.

Sure, there’s the Lonesome Dove sort of fiction lingering behind his ode to his “darlin’ Mayapple,” and in a few tracks where Evanchuck can be pictured leaning against a tree in the Old West—guitar and brow dusty from livin’. But sometimes a guitar and a great voice can turn even the cutest, Ray-Ban-sporting twenty-year old into a weathered cowboy. Cue the bluesy “Bury My Wife” where he declares, “I’m gonna bury my wife under that old pine shade. Lord knows that woman don’t know how to behave.”

Read more

- by Pencil -

Full length number three from Athen’s vanguard of punk/hardcore/garage/psyche, WE MARCH’s “Creator/Destroyer”, ranges from the speed and fury of 80’s H/C punk to scrappy garage stomp and murky psyched-out jams, but don’t think for one second that this is anything but the most scathing Punk record you’ve heard in a long time. While “the kids” are out there trying to recreate the past glory of these genres, WE MARCH manages to destroy them. Whether it’s uptempo ragers like “beep beep beep”  or “the choice” (from their 7’’)  or slower swaggering numbers like “never compromise” or “wash away”  you come away with the feeling that, just like the first wave of punks (who had no reference to what they were creating, unlike so much of the rehash of the past ten years), these guys don’t care about emulating their heros, just about creating music on their own terms, and for almost ten years (!) they’ve done just that. Released on their own NON-PROPHET record label “Creator/Destroyer” proves that even in the 21st century, punk can still be original, exciting and inspirational. Highly recommended.

Contact them:
wemarch.net, myspace.com/wemarch
wemarchbox@hotmail.com

- by Brian Wiebe

The relationships we have with music are as varied and complicated as the ones we have with people.  Sometimes a song or album is love at first listen—swooning as I hit repeat for the fifth, sixth, seventh time—enraptured in immediacy.  Other times, the relationship takes a little while to develop.  Maybe I haven’t heard the album in the right setting, or maybe I haven’t heard it enough, or maybe I just didn’t understand it right away.  But I keep listening until eventually a deeper respect forms because of the piece’s slowly unraveling mysteries and complexities.  Percolator has managed to do both.  Man is Not a Bird is an album that had me from the get go, and then kept growing on me.

Read more

- by Brian Koscho -

The X Bolex began as a solo project for then Small Object a drummer Nate Scheible while he was still living in Athens, Ohio. But, The X Bolex is now a full band made up of  some of the greatest musicians in the Cleveland music scene. Nate also co-runs Zombie Proof Studios and recorded “This Time..” with fellow engineer Paul Maccarrone. In addition to Scheible (who has spent/spends time in Cleveland acts such as Self Destruct Button, Neo Nothing, The Washout Corporation, and Thee Scarcity of Tanks), the band is filled out by Matt Majesky (State of Ohio), Lou Arocho (Small Object a), and Dale Ursic (Homostupids, State of Ohio). Scheible’s songwriting has always been spectacular as have X Bolex’s previous albums, but there is something special that develops on their new record.

Read more

- by Brian Koscho

Cleveland’s Machine Go Boom has been one of my own personal favorite bands for years. Music For Parents is their second album after 2004’s Thank You Captain Obvious, both were recorded by Paul Maccarrone at Cleveland’s Zombie Proof Studios. Machine Go Boom’s music is an audio sugar rush, with band-leader Mikey Machine’s voice ranging from a beautiful swoon to the tone of a small child on Christmas morning after twelve cans of soda and an entire birthday cake. Mikey and the rest of MGB make music that really is a breath of fresh air.

Read more

Adam Remnant, Southeast Engine’s principle penman and visionary, is a Dayton native living currently in that mythical berg of Athens, OH… a town often described as sleepy, dreamlike… you get the picture. Let me tell you about the Remnant’s house: piano, keyboard, drum here, drum there, harmonica, violin, organ… zounds of guitars. And that is not to mention the collective musical talent of the various characters often to be found lurking in and about the Remnant household on a given day: Adam Torres (backing vocals, guitar) lends a capable hand in the realization of Remnant’s musical vision, with distinct vocal harmonies that have become perhaps the most recognizable aspect of the band’s sound. Jesse Remnant (bass, keys), another Daytonite and recent addition to the band’s live lineup, and Leo DeLuca (drums), co-founding member and major hunk, round out the live band, which has recently completed its first tour as a quartet.

Read more

On their debut album, Casual Future gets into character as musicians from the slacker set, slinging well-penned quips filled with cynicism and absurdity, while keeping pretty level heads.  It’s a well-balanced act owing much to lead singer Scott Spice’s almost ho-hum delivery, dancing drunkenly over lyrics finely calculated and clever.

Read more

She Bears is a six-piece band from Athens, Ohio who have found their voice with their new release I Found Myself Asleep. I had the opportunity to play several of their earlier shows with them in my former band Casual Future, and one thing that stuck out to me was how good they sounded then. That of course led to the next thought of how scary it would be once they started to get really good. Their new album reaches that point. It’s a great record for sure but even more importantly it accomplishes something often lost in recording: She Bears sound like they should.

More after the break….
Read more