NEW MUSIC: The Dying Elk Herd - "For Real This Time"

The Dying Elk Herd’s debut album, For Real This Time, has been basically on constant repeat in the Ruttville CD player for the past week.  The much-anticipated disc most definitely delivers on the promise of their first two singles, the anthemic “Another Restless Night” and the insanely catchy “Don’t Let The Riverbeast Get You.”

  

For Real This Time may be The Dying Elk Herd’s debut album, but the band members themselves have been playing, both apart and together, for some time now.  Dave Benner, Greg Cathey and Curt Laudenberger are all veterans of the Lancaster punk scene.  Dave started out in Nobody’s Fools back in the mid-80s while Greg and Curt cut their teeth in The Dilemmas; all three eventually wound up members of Kirk & The Jerks and, later, Mystery City.  That pedigree is audible in the Herd’s material. There is much reverence for the past in the music (fans of Generation X, Stiff Little Fingers and early Clash are urged to move to the front of the line), but nothing here sounds dated or anachronistic.

The Herd come charging out of the gate in the opener, ”Progress Has A Price.”   The chiming guitars, driving beat and earnest lyrics set the tone for the rest of the ride.  “Restless Night” and “Riverbeast” are here, of course, amid hook-filled, sing (or shout) along concoctions like “Times Of Peril,” “Tired, Weary, Worn Out And Broke” and “The Fight To Be Free.” 

The song that caught me most by surprise, though, is the closer, “Every Avenue.”  No new ground is being broken here: punk kid has grown up and waxes nostalgic for the good old days while realizing the person he’s grown to be could only exist by living that life.  It’s a deft tightrope walk – a lyric like “…so I stumbled through my teens and through the Overlook Dance/And then on to Stan’s Records down Prince Street…” runs a high risk of overshooting the feeling of wistful nostalgia and landing somewhere between maudlin tripe and pretentious name-checking just to get a cheap pop from their fellow Lancastrians.  Here, they walk that line successfully, coming across with a gritty realness that hits home for anyone.  The fact that I, too, stumbled through my share of dances at the Overlook Skating Rink and spent most of my high school job’s earnings at Stan’s Record Bar, only means I know the precise places mentioned. Substitute your town’s local dance, indie record shop, neighborhood subdivisions and other landmarks, and you’ve lived it, too.

You can pick up For Real This Time through The Dying Elk Herd’s own website, or download through iTunes, and you really should.  I’ve shared “Another Restless Night” and “Don’t Let The Riverbeast Get You” in earlier posts, so this time around, with the kind permission of Dave Benner, I’m sharing the excellent opening track, “Progress Has A Price,” and the stunning closer, “Every Avenue.”  Enjoy!

Progress Has A Price

Every Avenue

A Bit of My Hometown's Punk Rock History

Over at the always interesting ...tapewrecks... blog, Tom Quinn has curated an excellent oral history of Lancaster, PA's "First Punk Rock Band," The Bodies.  Better yet, he has rescued a handful of rare recordings of the band, who never released any records during their brief existence. 

The Bodies were essentially a cover band.  They learned Punk Rock from vinyl and snarled through the songs they liked best, spreading the good word to a bunch of misfit kids in the heart of Amish country.  There were very few originals in the mix, but The Bodies were still a band, a Punk Rock band dammit, and right here in Lancaster!  They were the ones who kicked open the door for our scene; they inspired other bands to start playing, and they themselves went on to join other bands through the years.

Get yourself over to ...tapewrecks... and read, listen and learn, my friends.  The story of The Bodies is not a unique one, but it is an important one for those of us who grew up in the scene around these parts.  Those of you who are from other places have your own "First Band" stories - I'd love to read them.  Those were good times...

You Say You Want (Another) Revolution?

"When you don't know where to start, go back to basics..."

Good advice that opens the new release from Lancaster PA's DIY studio assemblage The French Revolution, and advice that the band's core of Daniel French and Jeremy Bentley took to heart both in the original concept for the band and in the recording of their outstanding sophomore effort, Back To Basics.

If you've studied your Lancaster music history, you know that this Revolution began in October of 2009 with the The Letdown, both a debut album and a manifesto:  To Hell with the Corporate Music Business! To Hell with endless touring and gigs in seedy dives in front of unenthusiastic drunks!  To Hell with trying to write The Next Big Hit! To Hell with charging ridiculous prices for a CD so that some label can make a profit! Let us simply make music we enjoy, and give it to the people who enjoy hearing it!

That's right - give it to them. No charge. Free.  A Revolutionary concept indeed!

The Letdown definitely was not a letdown, and neither is Back To Basics, although they are quite different from one another.  Among the guerrilla tactics being employed in this Revolution is the drafting of an ever-changing musical militia.  French and Bentley remain the heart and soul of The French Revolution, but the other musicians helping out on Basics are a completely different cast of characters than those on The Letdown, save for the return of guitarist/keyboardist Jason Sherman.  (Sherman takes a larger role this time around, providing a sizable share of the vocal duties, which were previously solely provided by French.)  The result is a decidedly different personality than the first album.  Where The Letdown was a rocking house party, Back To Basics finds itself getting lost in moments of almost sentimental introspection - the partygoer who takes a moment outside to clear his head before rejoining the fun.

It's nice to hear these layers of emotion becoming a part of The French Revolution's growing bag of tricks.  It shows a continuing growth and depth in songwriting and a willingness to follow where the music they are creating leads.  I would have been disappointed (dare I say "let down"?) to simply hear a rehash of the first album.  Still, it remains difficult to describe the sounds here.  Part of the manifesto is to play the music they want to play, which means they are not beholden to the bounds of any particular genre.  Obviously hard rock is the basic foundation, but that's an awfully wide foundation.  That they each grew up on 90s alternative rock is apparent, but it is equally apparent that they know well the 70s roots from which that grungy genre grew.  Their ability to throw a nifty hook or two into the mix belies a bit of pop influence as well.

Back To Basics is, like its predecessor, being offered as free download here beginning today, June 7.  (The Letdown continues to be available as well.)  My favorite cuts are "D.O.A." and "Incomplete," which you can listen to below, but please, do your part to help the Revolution - download the full album today, and pass the link along to a few friends.  I'm interested in hearing your reviews, so please stop back here and share your thoughts on the album!



"D.O.A."



"Incomplete"