Another installment of stuff I was going to blog earlier, but didn’t.
university days almost ten years ago. It was an article written for an
stolen from a charity organization) reviewing our band, Volume. For the
most part, we received good reviews. We were pretty good musicians, and
Mike, Chris, George and Andrew, this one’s for you.
Discovering the Length, Width and Depth of Volume
Elan Mastai
INQ Newspaper
Wednesday, April 7, 1993
My regular Thursday ritual of staring transfixed at the television screen absorbed in the intricacies of Seinfeld
was abruptly disturbed on April 1st. The distraction came in the form
of an invitation to check out Volume at the Carribbean Club.
Fortunately for my friend, I was very impressed by Volume’s three-set
performance.
Volume definitely has the “grunge”
look down pat. All the musicians involved were repsectably clad in
multiple layers of flannel, beer ads and rock band T-shirts. They
primarily played covers of current Seattle-scene alternative rock.
Volume’s music is of a fairly loud variety, and their sound packs a
solid punch.
Bar bands often seem to rely on the ability of
their guitarist to carry the tunes, leaving drums and bass to establish
the background rhythm (particularly in this age of pre-fabricated
techno music). Volume’s drummer, Andrew Pirie, has an established stage
presence. His thundering beat had much of the crowd bobbing their heads
in synchronicity. Fortunately, George Scriban’s
bass stood out as a sound completely separate from Chris Walmsley’s
guitars. Although the guitars were great, Walmsley wasn’t really
allowed to cut loose on any solos until the third set.
Keyboardist
Joey deVilla filled out the instrumental section of Volume. deVilla
apologized early for his real keyboard having been repossessed.
Regardless, I’ve never seen anyone actually play the keyboard with
their forehead and still maintain the tune. I was suitably impressed.
They keyboards provided nice additional melody, although it was a real
battle to hear them over Walmsley’s guitar.
Vocalist Mike
List has a great edge to his voice. When he’s allowed to cut loose with
one of his primal yowls, you can feel your brain quiver. List’s vocals
on tunes like Alice in Chains’ Would? and Soundgarden’s Outshined are along the lines of what Janis Joplin would have sounded like, had she been a werewolf (and male).
However,
Volume would do well to play to List’s strengths and stay away from his
weaknesses. Volume has a tight sound, but they should steer clear of
more melodic vocal material – ground upon which List is obviously
uncomfortable. The only real disappointments of the night were covers
of Epic and Nearly Lost You. (I know, I know, Faith No More and Screaming Trees are not generally considered melodic, but it’s all relative.)
However,
this criticism is not meant to detract from the band’s overall appeal.
They are simply better on the heavier material. Highlights of the night
included bang-on covers of Pearl Jam’s Alive and the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Suck My Kiss. On another of the more memorable covers, List borrowed from U2’s Bono stating “this is a song Black Francis stole from the Beatles, now we’re stealing it back”. The band then promptly broke into a killer version of Honey Pie.
Practically worth the three-dollar admission charge itself, was the hilarious rendition of Right Said Fred’s I’m Too Sexy.
List surrendered vocals to deVilla for the cover, giving himself an
opportunity for a quick rest. deVilla went way over the top, yelping
like a post-punk
daemon of disaffected suburban youth and paying particular attention to
the more socially stigmatized anatomical protrusions of the human body.
Another of the highlights of the show was Volume’s only
original of the night, an incredible tune called No Wonder. If No
Wonder is an indication of the original songs Volume is producing, I
only wish they would include more originals in future sets. It is so
difficult for independent bands to land jobs that often it is necessary
to play covers. However, I think that Volume will find that original
songs allow the band to evolve more fully and create their own sound.
Originals also allow the band to play to their own strengths,
particularly on the part of the vocalist.
The band actually
played No Wonder twice, the second rendition as the last song of the
final set. It was requested by two fairly large individuals who took it
upon themselves to create a two person mosh pit on the Caribbean’s
chessboard dance floor.
I spoke to deVilla during the break
between the first and second sets. He tells me that currently the band
is mostly working on gaining exposure around town and refining their
original material. Volume will be playing semi-regularly over the
course of the summer at the Caribbean with their next show scheduled
for Thursday, April 8th.
While Volume hardly transcends the idiom of popular culture
download youtube videos
or any pretentious music-critic distinction like that, they are well
worth seeing. Those of you who do not gauge their musical tastes by its
obscurity (just because it sells a million compact discs doesn’t mean
it’s not excellent music) and are into the sonic barrage that Pearl Jam
and Alice in Chains have cashed in on should like Volume.
Volume
is a band that is not only interesting to listen to, but between the
hyperkinetic flopping of List and deVilla and the musical skill of
Pirie, Scriban and Walmsley, Volume is a band that is also entertaining
to watch. All in all a great show. Check them out.
Elan pounded his head against his computer keyboard in the deVilla style while writing this article.
Home Alone and 
