Last week I warned you that this week’s episode comes from the grooveyard of forgotten favorites – bands I enjoy which have gone by the wayside or at least aren’t active right now.
As an example of the latter, one could go with local favorites Hard$ell. They have pummeled many an ear around these parts with their extremely heavy sound and perhaps as they express in this song, “we’re not dead yet.”
But I don’t think “It Has Begun” for this group, as Se7enth Seal seems to have come undone. Fun while it lasted?
Yet another speaker killer. I remember Property coming up from Virginia to do their first show in the area, and this was their opening song.
If you survived that onslaught, congratulations. I’ll take it easier on you since it’s not just metal bands which have gone into hibernation. This quirky but talented quintet has sort of disappeared from view after a couple years under different names – at this point they were known as Boats to Tangier and I was at this show. Even the venue has disappeared into the mists of time since there no longer is a RiverFest in Salisbury.
I have featured this song before, but it was a different configuration of musicians. Matthew King seems to have folded his solo act in favor for backing Paul Lewis, but this version of ‘So Strange’ was under his nameplate.
The last two are an interesting case, because members of the two joined forces to form We Might Collide, a band I featured in FNV 71. Some of the group comes from the Baltimore-based band Fourth Element, which is featured in this well-crafted video.
The other part of WMC comes from remnants of Lennex, who was huge around these parts a half-decade or so ago. This is one of my favorites from them.
The good news is that my writing off of Lennex may be premature, as there’s a reunion concert billed for August 11 in Towson featuring We Might Collide and veteran (but still active) Baltimore rockers Skitzo Calypso.
But it’s a sad commentary on our area that some of these talented bands couldn’t get the push to go national. And it’s also worthy of note that I compiled most of these bands out of my personal CD collection – although I don’t have every track I featured, six of the seven bands are sitting on my CD rack. I probably have a half-dozen more where I couldn’t find a video.
Of course, in this era of free downloads it’s easy to find new music. So why not try and keep the ones we have out there alive by seeing a show or buying a track or EP? Support local music, people – and…
Until next Friday night, have a great week and rock the summer!