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Steel Pulse with Four Ohms
Thursday · Annie's
From their start, Steel Pulse has expanded the borders of Reggae, moving from a rootsy, traditional style laced with Jazz and Latin rhythms to a synth-laden Dance groove to a combination of the two and back to foundational Roots. Through it all, the band's strongly held racial, cultural and political viewpoints have rarely wavered and their message has remained fairly consistent.
Steel Pulse was formed in 1975 in the Birmingham, England, ghetto of Handsworth by vocalist/guitarist/songwriter David Hinds, guitarist Basil Gabbidon and bassist Ronnie "Stepper" McQueen. Enthralled with the sound and Rastafarian message of Bob Marley and Burning Spear, the band released a couple of indie singles before signing with Island Records for their 1978 debut, the widely acclaimed Handsworth Revolution.
Initially, Steel Pulse had trouble securing club bookings because of their militant political stance, but the Punk movement created an opportunity for opening gigs with The Clash, The Police, XTC, The Stranglers and Generation X; in retrospect, Steel Pulse's influence on those bands is undeniable. After 1979's equally righteous Tribute to the Martyrs, Steel Pulse turned in a Pop direction on Caught You (Reggae Fever in the U.S.) and faltered. A move to Elektra found the band combining their Pop-based sound with their earlier political viewpoint on 1982's True Democracy, the Pulse's first charting album stateside.
The mid-'80s proved moderately successful for the band; 1984's Earth Crisis sold well and they won a Grammy for 1986's Babylon the Bandit. But founding members Gabbidon and McQueen departed midway through Earth Crisis (after numerous lineup changes, only Hinds remains from the founding core) and Babylon's weak sales caused Elektra to drop them. Steel Pulse pursued an obvious Pop path with 1988's State of Emergency and 1991's Grammy-nominated Victims, featuring the single "Taxi Driver," which was followed by the band's class-action discrimination lawsuit against New York City's Taxi and Limousine Commission.
The band's '92 Roots Reggae live album, Rastafari Centennial, earned them another Grammy nod and in 1993 they became the first Reggae band to perform at a presidential inauguration when Bill Clinton invited them to his.
Rage and Fury earned them yet another Grammy chance in '97, which they followed with another live set, Living Legacy. 2004's hard roots African Holocaust was their first studio album in seven years and last year, Elektra/Rhino celebrated Steel Pulse's 30th anniversary with remastered reissues of Earth Crisis and True Democracy. Through all the shifts in style and personnel, Steel Pulse remains one of the most committed and idealistic forces in contemporary Reggae. (Brian Baker)
Bayside with Halifax, I Am The Avalanche and The Sleeping
Friday · Top Cat's
Passionate Emo bands are as numerous as actor/waiters in Hollywood and really good ones are only slightly less prevalent, but Bayside would have stood out in that milieu even if they hadn't so completely distinguished themselves in the wake of any band's worst nightmare.
The quartet came together in Long Island, N.Y., six years ago and almost immediately began attracting local attention with their potent twin guitar attack, soaring vocals from frontman Anthony Raneri and melancholic lyrics influenced by non-Emo sources as disparate as Nick Drake, Stevie Wonder, The Cure and Nirvana. With Bayside's relentless touring schedule came more widespread acclaim and several well-placed tracks on highly-regarded compilations, which ultimately piqued the interest of respected Chicago indie label Victory Records, who signed Bayside in 2003.
The band's debut, Sirens and Condolences, produced by Jawbox's J. Robbins, was critically hailed by everyone from Teen People to Guitar Player as the best kind of edgy, melodic Emo. On their eponymous sophomore album two years later, Bayside softened their bleak outlook with a slightly more hopeful attitude and were rewarded with even more effusive praise.
And then, the unthinkable: Drummer John Holohan died in a van accident while the band was on tour in Wyoming. It was the kind of tragedy that could easily have dismantled the promising young band, but they valiantly regrouped and are back on the road with newly installed drummer Gavin Miller. Further proof of Bayside's resurrection and redemption can be found on Bayside Acoustic, a CD/DVD combo that was released earlier this year featuring a new song, "Winter," a moving tribute to Holohan, as well as acoustic versions of several old Bayside tunes and covers of Elliott Smith's "Baby Britain" and the Smoking Popes' "Megan." The live DVD in Bayside Acoustic contains footage shot of Raneri and guitarist Jack O'Shea, who soldiered on as an acoustic duo (on the "Never Sleep Again Tour") after Holohan's passing and bassist Nick Ghanbarian's critical injuries.
With Ghanbarian's healing, Miller's hiring and Holohan's memory to guide and inspire them, Bayside are ready to once again prove that the early buzz on them was deserved. (BB)
NEEDTOBREATHE with Subvinyl, The Receiver and Will Stratton
Friday · The Poison Room
Preachers' kids have few options in life. Either follow in dad's holy footsteps or tear shit up one way or another. South Carolina brothers Bear and Bo Rinehart chose the latter path when they created the epic, melodic Rock of their band NEEDTOBREATHE.
The Rineharts come by their musical skills honestly; their mother taught piano and their pastor father sowed his wild oats as a trumpeter for Country icons like Roy Clark and Glen Campbell. Having been exposed to a broad range of music through the diverse group of kids attending their father's church camp, the Rineharts combined their musical tutelage with their natural aptitude and began playing guitar and writing original songs by their mid-teens.
Bear Rinehart formed NEEDTOBREATHE with drummer Joe Stillwell during his freshman year at Furman University (he divided his time between music and football, where he was a gifted wide receiver), while Bo studied architecture at Clemson (his football skills earned him double/extra work in the film Radio). When NEEDTOBREATHE began playing a wider circle in South Carolina, Bo returned home and joined the band, as did local studio owner/bassist Seth Bolt. Local headline gigs and opening slots for the likes of Edwin McCain, Switchfoot and Collective Soul earned the quartet a slavish fan base known as the Breathers, a grassroots street team that gets the word out about the band.
Utilizing Bolt's studio, NEEDTOBREATHE recorded a trio of self-released EPs, which ultimately sold around 15,000 copies and netted them a contract with Lava/Atlantic. Last summer, the band headed to England to record with producer Andy Green (KT Tunstall, Keane), which resulted in their major label debut, Daylight, which spawned the moving first single "You Are Here." With the massive exposure that Daylight has been receiving, NEEDTOBREATHE has shifted back to touring mode but on a much grander scale than the one that originally sparked the interest of the Breathers. If you can dig it, say "Amen." (BB)
