TORIN O’BRIEN
Special to The Leader
Travelers: and epic name to match an epic sound. The cover art for the band’s new ep, ‘Have You Seen my Rainbow Monkey?’ is very creative. Even the band members, two of which are Fredonia grads, (bassist David Neimanis and drummer John Fohl), seem like good guys. At the end of the day, however, the music carries the band. Friday night had me wondering if I’d leave Ellicottville Brewing Company sane.
Photo by Kyle Vertin/Assistant Photo Editor
There were highlights Friday, like the band’s cover of the Bee Gees “Stayin Alive,” which got everyone in EBC to dance and jive. Also, Intrepid Travelers’ cover of the “Hey Arnold” intro song triggered some nostalgia in the mostly millennial crowd at the bar that night.
Intrepid Travelers seemed to enjoy the long form – to a fault. The songs, covers and original pieces, running no less than six to seven minutes. That’s the short end. Most of the songs on Friday ran closer to 10 minutes, with it seeming, several times, like they’d already moved on to a new song, only to hear the same riff, or melody line they’d been playing for the past eight minutes.
I had a chance to listen to their CD after the show thinking: “Well maybe that’s just how they play bars?” I stood corrected, with all four tracks running no less than six minutes, and some going closer to nine. It’s not like bands haven’t seen success with longer songs, but the listener can’t find themselves losing interest in a piece halfway through wondering, when is this going to end? This strategy is perfect for drunken college dive bars, which the band will be seeing a lot of in the next month. Intrepid Travelers’ northeast tour will see them through 11 different cities, the first one being Fredonia. Their psychedelic, funky sound will travel to the far reaches of Winooski and Burlington, Vermont, as well as Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.
Photo by Kyle Vertin/Assistant Photo Editor
Maybe that funky 1970’s sound will carry them further than I expect. But wait – it’s 2015, and songs that keep your interest are about four minutes, max. With all that being said, the band had fun up there on Friday. The instrumentals were decent overall. But their writing style has much to be desired.
On the plus side, in this day and age where you hear cookie cutter after cookie cutter song, it was somewhat (emphasis on the somewhat) refreshing to hear these guys play. They by no means play to a mold.
Despite my unfavorable words, Intrepid Travelers deserve all the respect in the world. It’s a young, gritty band trying to make it. You can tell they have fun with each other up on stage. Maybe the right person will here some of their music and like it. So, best of luck, and may the Travels stay Intrepid on the rest of the northeast tour.