8/23/2004
(excerpts from) Three to Watch Vol. 1...
by J.T. Cole
From coast to coast and across the entire heartland in between, America yearns for some good old fashioned rock 'n roll. Nowhere is that more evident than with the rise of the three bands in the spotlight for this new feature on StonerRock.com. While we all know that stoner rock's roots lie in the California sun and western desert wastelands, the genre has expanded its reach far beyond, both musically and geographically. From the midst of the vast flatlands and wide expanses of cornfield in Iowa come the bone rattling attack of Des Moines heroes On A Pale Horse. Also hailing from a land chock full o'cornfields come Devil To Pay with an awesome array of straight ahead rock hooks that have enough power to fuel a winning car at their hometown's most famous event, the Indianapolis 500. Continuing our trek across the heartland to the East Coast, we find Greatdayforup rocking clubs in Albany, New York. These three bands are likely to cause enough mayhem in the near future to cause the authorities to keep a close eye on them, but that's not the main reason On A Pale Horse, Devil To Pay, and Great Day For Up are on the first Three To Watch feature on StonerRock.com. The main reason is that they all are tearing it up live in support of excellent CD releases and gaining legions of fans along the way.
Devil to Pay
Billy Gibbons once said in his own inimitable way, "I'm bad, I'm nationwide." That about sums up Devil to Pay pretty well right now, too. Certainly if you've heard their Benchmark Records release, Thirty Pieces of Silver, or seen them live you know they're bad. And now, as of August 10, they are nationwide. As in their disc is being distributed nationwide. Yep, you can even go to everybody's favorite purveyor of shiny silver plastic consumer porn Best Buy and pick it up. (But why do that when you can just order it from the All That's Heavy Store?)
The band describes their own sound as "couple scoops of stoner with some doom and a groove on top." I'd say that's about right. From the Karma to Burn-inspired instrumental riffage ofThirty Pieces' opening track, "Mouthful of Spite," to the wickedly cool intro riff of "Angular Shapes," and on to the doom encrusted closing track of "Valley of the Dogs," this band turns those scoops into hellacious blend of whiskey spiked Kool Aid. As bone crushing as this release is, some would say that the album doesn't capture the live fury of the band. It is that live assault that propelled the band to a victory and $10,000 prize in an Indianapolis Battle of the Bands. Perhaps there has been no finer example of that live prowess than at June's Templars of Doom Festival in Indy. As lead vocalist Steve Janiak put it, "You couldn`t ask for a better audience of heavy music freaks." Any freaks who think they need to check can find them in the lineup to SHoD 6 coming up in September or on tour with Conifer later that month.
Devil To Pay will be a godsend for anyone who's worn out their Kyuss, COC, and Karma To Burn discs or who is still trying to figure out what the hell happened to Metallica. Fine doom laden stoner mayhem is what you can expect out of these guys for a long time to come.
...These three bands are making names for themselves across the country with each of their unique takes on rock. From the southern stomp of On A Pale Horse, to the well-constructed hooks of Greatdayforup, and finally to the sonic fury of Devil to Pay, there is something to each of these bands that every stoner rock fan will enjoy. However, the best is definitely yet to come from the three. As they each gain experience, fans, and the support of the stoner rock masses, they are all likely to become forces to reckon with on the stoner rock scene. Expect many awesome albums from each of these bands in the future. That is why they without a doubt are three bands to keep an eye on in the years ahead.