Absolutely AwesomeSep 20 '02 (Updated Feb 12 '08) Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Absolute Zero - some VT youngsters making very fun rock. Give 'em a whirl! When the time came to decide on a band to play at our campus radio station's welcome back concert, the choice was an easy one. Our new production director stepped up and volunteered his band Absolute Zero. They had already gained some popularity in the area with an independently produced album and a great performance at our school's battle of the bands last year. Now they had another chance to showcase their skill. Matt O'Neil, another St. Mike's student, opened the show with a great solo performance. His excellent guitar-playing and vocal skills give him a nice Howie Day-like quality. He played some very cool originals but also had the crowd singing along to four classic Weezer covers. O’Neil is quite talented and made a great choice for opening act. Absolute Zero soon took the stage and had the crowd rocking to their catchy pop punk sound. Now I’m not a huge fan of pop punk, but there are some bands I really like. I pretty much divide the genre into two groups: the ones with whiny vocals and the ones with cool vocals. AZ falls into the "cool vocals" category. Lead singer Mike McCarthy has a great voice that is melodic enough to be catchy but not whiny at all. He can go from soft singing to heavier, somewhat gritty punk. My favorite example of his vocal range comes in Another Day in the Life of Me where he rises from soft and deep to a loud, piercing scream. It's just a great effect for an already cool tune. They played mostly newer original tunes, most of which I didn't recognize since I have only their full length and these were from short demos. I was a bit disappointed that they didn’t play any songs from Fuzzy Goodness For Your Whole Family, but I loved all the originals despite their unfamiliarity. One especially memorable one was Bombs on Avalon, which, although still fairly heavy, slowed things down into a beautiful number. I was very impressed with the covers they put in the set. The first was a very fun and funky version of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Aeroplane complete with nice jamming at the end. Later, they played Jimmy Eat World's Sweetness. This song is a tough one to pull off, but they all worked together and got the timing just right. They closed the show with Pop Punk Girl, the one they say would be their hit if they had a hit. It's a fun and catchy song about girls with glitter under their eyes and whose t-shirts are too tight. It's poppy and aimed at a younger audience, but they manage to make it cool enough so that it doesn't cross over into annoying, bubblegum pop punk. Sometimes it's all in the presentation. The album that I have, Fuzzy Goodness For Your Whole Family is a half hour long and contains 10 songs, all but one are fun, mostly fast-paced punk. The last track is a lovely but sad slow ballad called Window: "If I had a car, I'd be outside your window at midnight/ ... But you live so far away." It's completely different from the rest of the album but just as enjoyable. The rest of the tracks are rock tunes that just about anyone can enjoy. Some standout tracks are Anything Goes, Anna May, Sweet Mercury, and Another Day in the Life of Me. If you're not from Vermont, you might have trouble getting the CD, so I suggest downloading these songs for an introduction and taking it from there. But I have a feeling you won't stop there because this band is anything but a zero. http://absolutezeromusic.com http://www.myspace.com/absolutezerovt  |
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