SLA - Sonic Love Affair (Dollar
Record Records)
Here's one that'll make your heart deepen.
About two or
three years ago, Sonic Love Affair's self-produced "Tube Burner" EP
showed up on my doorstep with its pockets turned inside out, a wallet containing
nothing more than a few cobwebs, and an "Aww shucks" look on
its face - a mission statement of sorts from five guys just looking for
a break, a street map of Kill City, or a quick nap on your couch. "Tube
Burner's" four
songs got on with it and got out pretty much before you knew what hit you,
caving your head in quite nicely, leaving you with the impression that whatever
these guys do, they'll get into trouble doing it.
Fast forward
to 2005 and they're back with a new guitarist (Steve Cotterill) and, the
caking on the ice, an honest-to-goodness full-length
round, shiny silver disc with a record label slapped on it which spits, hisses,
and arches its back like a feral tomcat being menaced by an ASPCA
agent armed with a control stick. The transition from demo territory
to full-blown studio frippery, courtesy of producer Chris Woodhouse, has
cost them absolutely nothing in terms of malfeasant attitude or sonic thrust. Feel
free to draw your own conclusions about Faustian pacts.
In addition to sharing a first name with my son (and at the risk of scaring the living shit out of my daughters), singer/trigger man Dylan Rogers can also expect an automatic invite to Chez Paull for Christmas dinner for his tendency to approach every turn at the mic as if it were his last before being tanned by an A-bomb, howling like a drunk at last call, burning fast, burning bright, the embodiment of the "Street Preacher" he crows about in "SLA's" opening track. Rogers positively oozed star power and slovenly, sweaty charisma on "Tube Burner"; here he goes supernova.
With all apologies to Rogers and Reggie Jackson, though, it's the less than clean-burning guitars of Cotterill and Curtis Franklin which stir the Sonic Love Affair cocktail, gusting like twin F5's tearing holes in the sky over Kansas, touching down and leaving entire villages ablaze. And despite Rogers' best efforts on "In Your Mind," they steamroll right over him as well although he does get the last word(s) in as the song fades out, blathering and sputtering like he's forgotten his daily dose of bi-polar meds as those nice young men in their clean white coats take him for a little ride. Drummer Jerry Fiore and bassist Rudge do their damnedest to sweeten the annual financial reports of whoever makes their drum heads and strings, doubling as party chaperones and designated drivers.
"Hot Tears Holy Shoes," biding its time on "Tube Burner" and hoping for a shot at the big time, makes a return appearance here as does "Problem Child" and the aforementioned "In Your Mind." But hey, what happened to the swinging, adrenalin-juiced "St. James Hotel," as good a reason as any for your parents to hate and fear rock 'n' roll?
All grousing
aside, Sonic Love Affair are a revelation, stepping forward and identifying
themselves as the little band that could (and did), this
year's winners of the "perfect world" sweepstakes, as in "in
a perfect world, these guys would have all of Paul McCartney's money." Baby
steps, baby steps..-
Clark Paull
TUBE BURNER E.P. - Sonic Love Affair (self-released)
Maybe it's a disservice to police officers, firefighters, and members of
the armed forces, but using the word "heroic" in the same sentence as "Sonic Love
Affair" - five lovable curs whose homemade demo disc recently landed at
The Bar in a cloud of dust, blue and white Memorex logo still visible under
their own label - may be something you're going to have to learn to live
with.
Based on the vaguely pandering handwritten note which accompanied said disc,
which cops to an apparent lack of financial resources, it's obvious these
guys just don't give a shit, preferring to grab the world by the short hairs
instead of waiting around for A&R lackeys to locate their home base of Sacramento
on a map of California.
Testimonials and character references don't really count for much in SLA's
world, but it must be comforting to their mommies and daddies that the "Tube
Burner" E.P. is alive with fire, all four songs bristling with a greasy, concussion
bomb skronk, the guitars of Davey Love and Curtis (no last name, just Curtis)
way up in the mix and snarling like rutting hyenas on methamphetamine and
human growth hormone, the brainshaking engine room of Jerry Fiore (drums)
and The Rudge ( bass, no first name, no last name - just "The Rudge") somehow
managing to simultaneously keep things tight and simple without sacrificing
that certain freight-train-hits-music-store sonic din.
Sprinkled over this whole mess is the filthy squall of Dylan Rogers, who
holds absolutely nothing back on "Problem Child" (no, not the old AC/DC chestnut)
and "St. James Hotel," trying to propel his larynx right out of his throat
and splatter it against the rear studio wall. The intro to "St. James Hotel"
cops the opening lick of Exploding White Mice's "Let The Kids Dance" and then
SLA grab it by the throat and actually make it swing. "Hot Tears Holey Shoes"
twists, turns, and even drools a little, the band buzzing like some unholy
swarm of bees. If the Stooges had been mining "Nuggets" territory insteady
of relying on massive consumption of booze, pot, and pills for inspiration,
the results may have sounded like "In Your Mind," which at first blush sounds
like a cover of "Flamin' Groovies' "Shake Some Action."
Somebody needs to get up off their ass and sign these guys. You see, they
have nine more songs in the can but despite an abundance of the three B's
(bravado and ballsy brilliance), they are sorely lacking in one key element
needed to release them: money, which despite its inherent evil, still comes
in handy every now and then. Based on what engineer Eric Broyhill has brought
to these demos, it would be interesting to see what Sonic Love Affair could
accomplish with all the bells and whistles that come with a full-blown studio
production. They have the goods, the bads, and plenty of the uglies. -
Clark Paull
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