Sins in Stereo
Born on a Bonfire
Sins in
Stereo are...
Ben
Nolan- lead guitar, saxophone, vocals
Tim
Stroh- Bass
Cory
Sheppard- Drums
There never
seems to be a set patterned response to new bands breaking into the scene. The
fans are fickle and unforgiving. Today’s trendsetters become yesterday’s news -
once cool, now passé, lost in the shuffle of downloads and shrinking dollars.
In a scene where no band ascends to the top of the pyramid, pickings are slim
and the money is a joke…yet, there is so much notable talent in mid-Michigan
that no one is ready to throw-in the towel. As aging rockers turn to country
and cover bands, there are just as many small faces to take up mantel and
fill-in the creative gap. There is a sizeable soundboard from which to
experiment. Bands like Exit 675, The Jack Diamonds Band, Ten Hands Tall,
Whistlin’ Whisky, Big Brother Smokes, and our heroes Sins in Stereo are ready
willing and able to revitalize our ailing arts and music scene. Greg Shaw, an
innovative journalist (BOMP Magazine) and record producer (the Flamin’
Groovies) told me in a 2002 phone interview that rock & roll music is no
longer the premier music form and that hip hop, rap and pop had ascended to the
top of the pyramid. Yet he cautioned that rock, blues and jazz would continue
to flourish in small pockets across the globe. The spectacular proof is in the
grooves of the many great bands who dare to bare their soul to yet another sigh
of media-fed ennui. I say take it to ‘em with both barrels blastin’ – rock on
brothers and sisters. Dare to listen to Sins in Stereo, fight the power!
JD Dominowski, the
voice of Sins in Stereo provided some deep background via the magic of the
internet. The full review of the disc will follow:
Ben, Cory and myself were in a local cover band from about 2009-11
but we eventually lost interest. I had some songs or parts of songs lying
around thinking I might someday make an album of original music. The courage to
do it came one night with a good buzz going around a bonfire (hence the
EPs title) and from that point on I knew I wanted to do something with
it. In April 2012 we got together for a jam session and worked on a few
of the songs that I had written. We met a few times after that and
decided to become an original band, not knowing at all what we were getting
ourselves into.
We kicked
around all kinds of names for the band and nothing really stuck or appealed to us
until our drummer Cory suggested Sins In Stereo. We all looked at each other
and knew in a matter of seconds that was the right moniker for us. I
absolutely loved it. Something about the name reminded me of Elvis
Presley shaking his hips and the sinister cool early rock and roll seemed to
bring.
My vision
as a new-to-the-game songwriter with zero experience doing this was very
basic: Take everything I love about classic rock, 90's rock
and classic country, put it in our own blender and stir accordingly. So
far it's worked. I concentrate hard on what I love about Tom Petty, Pearl
Jam, Bob Seger, Bruce Springsteen, and Johnny Cash, and what I can do to take
some of their mojo, deliver it to the rest of the band and let them massage it
into musical existence.
I met
Andy Reed at a show at White's earlier that year and remembered thinking how
cool it was he does his own thing and plays with the Verve Pipe. I only talked
with Andy briefly and learned that he had his own studio. So when the 3
of us decided to hit the studio in September of 2012 to cut our first official
track, working with Andy was a no-brainer. After all he'd recorded some
of my favorite local bands such as The Banana Convention, Brody and the Busch
Rd Trio, The Distorted Waltz etc…and this music was important to us, we wanted
to work with the best around.
The
review follows...
Get Gone
The opener
begins with a mid-tempo acoustic pattern that feels warm and inviting though
the lyrics are all about anger and betrayal. After a few bars Nolan follows up
with full-bodied electric warrior thrash that smells like teen spirit. Cobain
would be proud. JD Dominowski’s incisive baritone is filled with power on the
chorus yet is melodic and nuanced during the verses, the quiet/loud pattern works
well. A searing organ patch gives it an extra punch. Dominowski does not mince
words, he’s bitter…
Sometimes ya gotta scrape the bottom
And feel the rock
Let the wave crash down
Capsize the boat and
Move the docks
Realize that you ain’t been flyin
With the flock…and GET GONE
Helen
This little biopic creates a dark landscape of
internal carnage, a tortured soul who becomes an acid casualty. Nolan’s
contemplative noodling on acoustic nudges forward for several bars before the
rhythm section kicks it up a notch with help from Andy Reed’s screaming organ
swirl and an emotive yet restrained vocal. Dominowski is a flat out great singer without the
tendency to overdo it like Chad Kroeger or Eddie Vedder. The chorus is
supplemented by a neat call and response segment that works well and makes a
point about the horror of addiction. Nolan’s guitar is the perfect voice for
this song.
Her daddy was a
hard hard man…..and he lived a harder life
Helen was his only
child…..born of someone other than his wife
Her mama was a
waitress down at Dino’s bar & grill
She always wanted
to leave that town but the dope was stronger than her will
And you’ll find…the world moves on
without you
If you’re blind…to the beauty that
surrounds you
And you might…make it out but you
gotta want to
Today………
Whisky Drought
This is a
song about a broken relationship, the deafening thump of a broken heart and
when the problem (whisky) becomes the solution. It opens up with Nolan pickin’
out a quiet pattern on the acoustic that segues to an electric explosion of
grunge guitar, quiet & loud/darkness and light. It’s like the Foo Fighters
channeling Cobain. Dominowski’s emotional reading seals the comparison and
gives the song its emotional valence. It’s a powerful motif that tells about a
peering into the abyss. The fire of addiction is out of hand. He becomes the
abyss.
And this
fire’s gotten so far out of hand
It’s enough
to break the will of a lesser man
I’d try to
put it out,
But I’d be
in a Whiskey Drought
And I don’t
wanna die
By my own
hand
Porcelain
This is a song written and sung by Ben Nolan. Structurally,
Nolan shifts things around and opens the song with a chorus., a flourish of
accapella singing and some slap back echo seems hopeful, she’s a little
country; a little rock & roll. But
Nolan’s minor chord guitar patterns along with Reed’s soulful lapsteel splashes
hints at another interpretation. The chorus contains some great two-part
Springsteen/Big Man harmonies. The Semper Fie lyric hints at an indelible
memory of forced values and invalidation. The cauldron of moonshine and blow
becomes a fatal recipe.
She’s a
little bit country
A little bit
rock and roll
She’s a
little bit angry
A little bit
of soul
Little bit of
moonshine
A little bit
of blow
She’s a
little bit country
And a little
bit rock and roll
Semper Fi
was the American motto her mother taught her well
Baptized in
the blood of Christ/kept her from the fires of hell
Skipped
school and broke the rules/she had a dirty past
Whoa my mind
told me to take my time
But my body
couldn’t last –oh no now
Goodbye Kiss
This is an
up-tempo cowboy tune with a neat walking bassline and an insistent patch of
twangy guitar trills that fill up the musical spaces like a Spector-ish wall of
sound. Nolan’s e-string mutations move along with the beat. Dominowski’s vocal
delivery is pure country and Nolan’s bass string pickin’ is full bodied. The
music is colored in sepia tones and evokes images of Bonnie & Clyde the way
Warren Beatty played it. He’s sittin’ on the front porch with Bonnie, a jug of
whisky, some barbecue and a few outlaw friends - the cops are looking through
the crosshairs ready to pull the trigger. This is the perfect vehicle to end
the disc
She was sitting in love seat
When the
cops kicked in the door
I turned and
said ‘baby, I can’t
See you
anymore.’
It’s been
real fun girl but it
Seems I’ve
gotta leave
Got more
skeletons
Than you got
Tricks up
your sleeve
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