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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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Edge of Greatness
Just when HearSay thought it had “discovered” a band worthy of repeated listening, the band goes on hiatus just like that. Slimshine Brown will be taking a break from gigging steadily until the first of the year, but they will be playing one advertised gig, Halloween night at No Frills Bar and Grill in A-town. So please cut HearSay some slack as it proceeds to ramble on about this quartet of hard-rockin’ homeboys (meaning, “of Fort Worthians” — not beer-drinking buds of HearSay’s, of which there are, at last count, zero).
It’s only been over the past few months that HearSay has learned to appreciate alt-rock of the kind The Edge and Slimshine Brown kick out. Now, this doesn’t mean HearSay’s an Edge fan, it just means that when your columnist hears guitar sludge over bombastic beats and some guy wailing about how miserable life is HearSay doesn’t get all freaked out and shout, “Ya know, life isn’t that bad! Cheer the fuck up!” HearSay listens attentively, especially if the melodies are catchy and the riffs decidedly memorable — like Slimshine Brown’s. And when the music comes cold correct live, it’s even better, because almost every type of hard rock sounds good coming through massive stacks. Live, Slimshine Brown will not disappoint.
One thing that stuck out when HearSay recently saw SB, as they like to be called, was how heavy-metalish they were — as in Metallica metalish. Tempos changed on a dime, barre chords dissolved into complex runs, songs lumbered in syncopated rhythms only to pick up speed and become entire walls of sonic force. Lead singer Todd Franks, letting his freak-flag fly, even wears his “brown” hair long. Do these guys know something we don’t? Is it OK to like Judas Priest again? Please tell — HearSay has a stack of JP vinyl it needs to unload. (Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?)
New C.d.’s
Everyone and his mama is working on a c.d., but only a few acts deserve mention. Hang out at the local record store in readiness for Southpaw Preachers’ new one, produced by Casey Diiorio of Valve; Collin Herring’s debut, produced by Matt Pence of Centro-matic; and John Price’s big first record. HearSay had the good fortune of hearing some of that disc a few weeks ago — it’s more radio-ready rock than what Price has been getting by on these past few years, highly polished and catchy Americana with alt-rock vibes. So let’s throw down the gauntlet: HearSay will stop haunting Fuzzy’s Tacos at 2:30 in the morning and harassing Fuzzy’s personnel for beer, if one of these records doesn’t land someone a major-label distribution deal.
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