DISClosure: Are We Aliive? • Sickhouse • Shake it … Like You’ve Been There

DISClosure
CD Reviews Of A National Scale

Are We Live?
Shonuff

by Jo Sheppard

Are We Live? Pick up this latest CD by Shonuff, a Pittsburgh band, and you will answer a resounding “Sho Nuff.” Are they live in central PA? Well, Shonuff may have been born in Pittsburgh, but they are definitely creating a presence across the state and — with the release of their second CD, Are We Live? — across the nation. If raw talent is an accurate measure by which to predict success, Shonuff is well on its way to the top. Winners of Pittsburgh’s ’96 Jam Slam competition of the bands — no small accomplishment — and finalists in the 1998 Graffiti Rock Challenge, the band is made up of five guys who have known each other since the early ’90s when they began playing together as teenagers at Woodland Hills High School. The band includes vocalist Gene Walker, bassist Cliff Foster, drummer Jason Grew, guitarist Mike Sellman, and percussionist Jay Constable. Put them together and the talent and energy develop into a very unique and heavy sound.

Although live onstage is where the band really explodes, the CD recording is unquestionably worth a listen. Following the lead of vocalist Gene Walk, the band explodes onto stage and once there, they take over. Are We Live? opens with the intense, moving “Headchecks,” and features dynamic versions of eight songs from their debut CD The Sho Must Go On, plus three new ones, including the “Fear No One” and a cover of Lenny Kravitz’s “Always on the Run.” The CD flows from structured verse-chorus-verse songs to improvisational jams like “Don’t Bother" (which includes a cool segue into Kool and the Gang’s “Ladies’ Night”) and “Who Got It.”

The twelve cuts on Are We Live? blend the very different musical styles of funk, heavy metal, and rock all into one smooth, high energy and highly danceable sound. They travel without hesitation between cool, fast-paced and laid back, sometimes all within one song. Add to that a bit of gospel in “Real Man” and the band could be overextending but it all comes together in a show described by some music critics as “groovalicious.” Pay attention to the thoughtful and highly original lyrics (Walkers’ clear and sturdy voice allows you to actually discern the lyrics) and you have a record of the controversial issues of today as the band addresses a wide range of subjects, including racism (“Spectrum” and “Right Now”), abuse (“Real Man”), drug use (“Who Got It?”), and relationships. Always sensitive, the upbeat message is clearly live and let live and maybe smoke some weed along the way.

It’s impossible to label a group that rocks and grooves this hard, bringing together rock, reggae, and a dash of rap into the sound that Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Scott Mervis called “a funk-rock monster.” It is clear that this band is out to have a good time and that’s their goal for the audience. As Walker screams out in the opening to “Who Got It?” — “You come to Party!” Walker says “We definitely try to put on a show and get the crowd involved. Before the band got together, we would see a lot of bands play uptempo music with a lot of drive to it, but it didn’t seem like they were involved with it, that they were having fun. We definitely want to get down with everybody and have people move with the music as well. If we can get one person moving, our job’s done. It’s all about fun.”

Look for Are We Live? at your music store or call the SHOLINE at 412-734-8499. You can also visit the SHONUFF website at www.shonuff.com. And don’t miss this band when they come to central PA. Just be ready to party!

(Recorded at Nick’s Fat City (Pittsburgh, PA) October 2, 1999, 5AM Records)

Sickhouse
Ivet

by Beth Ann Matkovich

Put together a dash of Henry Rollins, a pinch of Live, stir in the likes of Living Color, Megadeath, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers; blend well with a whole lot of emotion and attitude and you’ve got ivet. The Cleveland-based band’s third project, Sickhouse blends a carefully concocted mix of hard-hitting emotion and expression — an interesting dichotomy of music-pain and art. The band has made their rounds in the alternative and offbeat music scene, having showcased their work in Cleveland, Buffalo, CMJ’s Music Marathon, and at the Millennium Music Conference here in Harrisburg. Each song on the album has its own personality, but they all share one thing in common: a raw, balls-to-the-wall, last effort to live.

The band is undeniably among the up-and-coming cult rock bands of this decade bound to gather a diverse following for its lyrical excellence, musical composition, and sheer attitude toward life. Despite its hard-hitting presence, ivet has a sound with the courage to go all the way, but retreats for fear or going too far. Like pushing the outer limits of the law, yet coming back to volunteer for community service. Overall, a very impressive effort. How couldn’t it be with production help from the Green Room’s Dale Epperson and Bob Welsh? But you have to listen to the whole CD just to hear the almost comical instrumental mix somewhere on the album. It would be very interesting to know the delusion behind this “Big Comfy Couch” mimic.

(Primitive Records, www.ivet.com)

Shake it … Like You’ve Been There
Project67

by Beth Ann Matkovich

If you could imagine the feeling of listening to music without really hearing it, you’d know what it’s like to listen to project67. P67, an unassuming band out of Bethlehem, comes to the table with their album Shake it… Like You’ve Been There, a mixed bag of refreshing pop-rock sound that includes a taste of the Foo Fighters, Spin Doctors, Cry, Cry, Cry, Squeeze, and the Violent Femmes, among others. Shake it..., aptly titled given the group’s upbeat musical confidence throughout the CD, is the work of four guys who know how to draw your ear but leave the rest of you behind. From the telling “Subside” with the proverbial old, new, and borrowed (but nothing blue) from other pop songs, to the folksy “Tanke,” this effort is no doubt a pleaser across the board. Look for someone one day to remake “Poor Rose” into a ska hit. But likely the best track, "Flipping Turtles," has been saved for last. Each song on the album has a sound that rings familiar but that you just can’t put a finger on. Shake it... is chock full of fresh tunes, but not so much as to detect an alluded influence on the musicians from their popular-and major record label-peers. They may be a no-name in many circles, but with Shake it… project67 has certainly put their good foot forward and stuck it firmly in the quickly closing door of today’s already crowded pop music scene. (Amberlithe Records)