by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
Another young band, Tears in the Sahara, launches a tour to support an album. Another tree falls in the forest. Another battered band of rockers returns to their hometown beaten but not dead. Yes, it's a right of passage for aspiring musicians who hope to emerge from the predator-infested rock jungle with something to show for all their hard work besides disillusionment.
For the hopefuls, it's a shot in the dark, but these lads have to start somewhere. This band of gypsies is from Odessa, Florida, near Tampa, and they have been building a fan base in the region. Now, they are taking their electronica- fused pop-rock to the streets.
When all is said and done, it's the songs that are important. The young musicians in Tears write intelligently conceived material, some of which has alt-rock hit potential. I caught this band at the House of Jam last Saturday night. The HOJ gig was the band's first stop on an extensive tour supporting their album Breaking Circuits Burning Bridges on indie label LPR. The lads were fairly tight from playing gigs around the area to save enough money to go on the tour. Tears will travel to Fayetteville, North Carolina and then to Washington, DC as its next gig along the way.
Known only by their first names, so that as musicians come and go with the tides, a Joe can become a Jim without losing any integrity. Generic musical chairs. Josh plays guitar and sings lead, Diego plays drums, Drew plays a hand held keyboard, and Andrew plays guitar and programs the Apple laptop.
The real test of the band's individual dedication to the project is how they adjust to life on the road. After umpteen peanut butter sandwiches and niggling personality conflicts, the leader of the band finds out who can take the grueling road grind and who goes running home to his girlfriend. Such is the life of an itinerant musician.
After listening to Tears' original music, the group has successfully distilled its influences into a semi-original sound. By that I mean all rock music is derivative to all that has gone before. However, the lads in Tears have come up with a listenable sound that stays true to the melody while incorporating the angst-driven hard-edge of alt-rock's origins. Songs like ‘After Fifteen Minutes' are enhanced by electronic elements, but it is essentially a pop song dressed up.
I like the fact that on most of the songs, the voice was mixed a little ahead of the instrumentation so I could hear the lyrics clearly. The bands' songs have radio play potential and could catch on with the younger scene. The band's sound is pop enough to crossover into the mainstream, but edgy enough to hang on to its alt-rock credentials. I enjoy the raw energy of the hard rock breaks in the songs–combining sugar and spice effectively.
When you consider how many bands are out touring across the nation at any one moment, it boggles the mind. However, this is one band of musicians who could cause a stir. If their songs catch on, they garner enough fans and they sell enough albums from the side-stage, then the next step is booking bigger venues.
Indeed, I admire the lads in Tears for having the guts to take their music to the people and broaden their horizons. No matter what happens, at least they have actually done it and not just talked about it in their rehearsal hall. The whole music business is mobile–traveling the endless highways to oblivion–or in rare cases, fleeting rock stardom.
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EU Critic’s Choice Awards
