Goddamn,
but I love some energetic and powerful music sometimes if only to
offset this acoustic rut the world seems to have fallen into. I
remember when the “unplugged” craze hit and I remember cursing
the musical gods with epithets which mostly contained the phrase, “If
God had wanted us to listen to acoustic music all the time, he would
not have invented electric guitar and amplifiers!” And I meant it.
I mean, a lot of the bands which gave up stacks of Marshalls to sit
on stools or folding chairs barely made it behind the wall of sound
the amps created. Acoustically, their warts grew to sci-fi
proportions, the music barely passable if that. Nope, give me
electric most of the time and give it to me in mountainous
proportions. I want time changes and power and a voice to string it
together. I want rhythms which force you to listen or leave--- that's
right, I don't want the unadventurous invading my space. Wait! That's
it! Headslap! I want adventure!
And
there are few bands out there as adventurous as Ticktockman.
These guys are like anemones. Ideas fall onto them and they digest
them and somehow come up with culinary delights for the ears way
beyond most of the tripe passing for music these days. Dare I call
them progressive? What does that mean anymore? Hard rock? They
definitely have a hard edge but they don't play hard rock, at least
not the three chord blast-em-out version many of us accept as such.
Grunge? I still haven't quite figured out what that
is,
perhaps because I had lived through a couple of decades of rock
metamorphoses before it came along.
I
can tell you this. They are powerful. They are tight---
asshole-tight,
as my old drill sergeant used to say. They are adventurous, grabbing
influences wherever and whenever it strikes their fancy. You don't
hear jazzy guitar solos in the midst of tracks like “Scavenger!
Move Along!” without
a sense of adventure.
I
can point out bands which also have that sense of adventure: Captain
Beyond,
King's
X,
Living
Colour,
and that's only three, although three of my all-time favorites. I'm
sure there are others, though at the present I am amped up on
caffeine and don't really care. What I care about is getting the word
out about Ticktockman.
You should hear these guys, if only to give you fodder for your next
“Trash the Gutchman” rant. If only to prove me right or wrong. If
only to, in the best case scenario, find a band to set you back on
your heels.
Musicians!
There are a handful of bands out there you should be hearing! Bands
which are a step above, both musically and rhythmically. These guys
are one. Pick your instrument (and I don't mean the fleugelhorn) and
get set to be schooled. These guys are that
good!
Words
aren't enough? Good news! You
can stream them here!
(Frank Gutch Jr. writes and has written
for numerous magazines and websites, presently including this blog
and the prestigious Don't
Believe A Word I Say site
put together by musician and music pundit Bob Segarini
out of Toronto. He specializes in the Indies, having fought
hand-to-hand combat with major record labels for decades (talk about
zombies).
He believes music should be the core of the music business, though
business it mostly be, and denies the accepted reality in the stead
of the artistic one. Seldom does he receive pay for articles and/or
reviews and believes that there is no place for negatives in a world
in which one cannot keep up with the positives. He is, in a sense, a
lost soul in a sea of music, drowning, but drowning gratefully.)
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