MARIA MELCHIORRE
Staff Writer
Today and tomorrow will see the 10th annual BJ’s Fest. BJ’s, the Fredonia downtown staple, has been slinging drinks, serving greasy food and hosting great local bands since 1933. This 10th anniversary event will feature seven bands from the western and central New York areas.
Day one will see bands Bungler, The Traditional, The Slums and Sleep Close Death, interchangeably written as SLPCLSDTH.
Bungler, a three-piece punk/hardcore group composed of Greg Kolb, Ryan Ankenbauer and Sky Harding strongly displays its influences, Every Time I Die and GG Allin, in its songs. The group released an EP this past fall in collaboration with Iceland’s Great Grief.
Its songs “August” and “Never Grows” from its EP, “There’s No Setting Sun Where We Are” have a frenetic, two-drum-kit sound of overwhelming proportions.
The Traditional recently recorded an acoustic set with The Local Lo-Down, a radio show on WCVF 88.9 recorded at Fredonia Radio Systems. The admittedly emo-indie rock band features Anthony Musior on bass/vocals, Michael Bienias and Steve Shero on guitar and Jon Coric on drums. Notable tracks include “The Composure, the Compromise” off its 2012 EP “You Can’t Rebuild Forever,” and “The Perks of Being Alive” off 2013’s SPLIT.
The Slums just released its long awaited first full length album “SORRY” on April 22. This post-hardcore four piece features Steven Floyd on vocals and guitar, Ryan Schila on drums, Jake Strawser on guitar and Matt Zych on bass. One of the first singles released off of the album, “Gospel Part II,” along with the tracks “Blue Suits” and “Purple Hearts” are most notable. The band’s sound is dense, almost discordant, yet still manages to come out the other side as melodic and harmonious.
Sleep Close Death’s album “Shopping Mall Zombie Music” features hip hop influences and showcases an artful weaving of mixed media on tracks such as “Lies” which closes with an infamous line from the classic American Psycho:
“Something horrible is happening inside of me and I don’t know why. My nightly bloodlust has overflown into my days. I feel lethal, on the verge of frenzy. I think my mask of sanity is about to slip.”
Its Soundcloud’s most recent activity is a demo track titled “Brains” on which the lyrics create a steady flow of sounds through assonance, all focused around the strong, catchy chorus of “Nervous as it worsens, person nerves twitch, itch, no service.”
Day two of the annual fest will feature Filthy Gorgeous a “Psychedelic Progressive Punk under a blanket of blues on an uncomfortable mattress of Noise with a stuffed bear named Math rock,” as is stated on its Bandcamp page.
Composed of Fredonia’s Austin Darling on guitars and vocals, Shea Glasheen on bass and Brad Hoyt on drums, the band is fairly active on its Soundcloud page. Notable recent tracks include “Paperboy,” which features Darling’s gravely, energetic vocals reminiscent of a young Tom Waits. On tracks such as “Assrab-bit” one can hear a pleasing concentration of a psychedelic, Tame Impala influence, crossed with the studied math rock attention to detail.
With influences cited as Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath and Hawkwind, Second Trip sounds like something straight out of the smokey Woodstock era. This categorization is not meant to write the band off, but rather to give a nostalgic familiarity.
Featuring Jeff Martinez on bass and vocals, Joe Alas on drums and Joshua Gartley on guitars and vocals, Second Trip also utilizes synthesizer on its album “A Lot of People Are Going to Die.” Martinez’s strong, steady vocals carry this head banging psychedelic group. Notable tracks are “I Know You’ve Seen Her” and, “If You Dig The Synthesizer Over Cutting,” the second track off the album “Lost in the Dark.”
Mooses is easily one of the most well established and well known bands in Fredonia’s current music scene. The band is composed of Peter Cahlstadt, Scotty Gergelis, Jimmy DiMartino and Kelly Weber. It has a distinctive surf rock and light psychedelic sound. Cahlstadt’s vocals are reminiscent of a less Sheffield Alex Turner. Notable tracks off its 2014 album “Tales From the Elephant’s Nest” include “Bette Davis” for its light hearted, dance-rock sound and “Black Wash” for it’s pared down psychedelia.
BJ’s 10th annual fest will feature drink specials on both nights and showgoers are encouraged to take a gander at the bar’s extensive, yet somewhat underappreciated, bourbon menu.