It’s been a long time since I’ve updated the music section of my blog, but that is about to end. I’ve got a ton of new music to let you all know about. And the best place to start is a very local band (they are from the same small suburban town that I live in). The whole DYI/Punk/Alternative scene is booming in New Jersey. Reminds me a lot of the mid to late 80’s music scene in NJ, and it really hit me with this CD. See, over a year ago, the local Christain youth group my older daughter participates in threw a fund raiser which doubles as the local Punk Rock Show, and I was asked to be “security” at the show. Although I have a 15 year daughter, I’m a lot younger then most of the parents in the youth group, so the music isn’t too loud for me, and I’m big enough to make the kids think twice before starting trouble (not that they would, but a little beef never hurt). All the bands at the show were local, and were not getting paid to play. Most were just happy to be able to play for kids, since there isn’t a lot of places to play for the under 21 crowd. Houston Calls was one of the bands in the middle of the show, and had more of a pop sound then the rest of the bands, but what I noticed was the Hammer Explorer guitar one of the guys was playing, and I had a flashback of the “High -n- Dry” era Def Leppard. It was a combination of the Hammer Explorer, the gang choruses, the hair cuts, and the whole DYI scene. After the show I got to talking to the guy with the Explorer (Kenny), and helped the guys load up their equipement. We got to talking a little bit, and he gave me a copy of their demo, which I proceeded to give to my daughter (after giving it a listen of course).
Imagine my surprise when over the summer I hit the DriveThru Records site and see an ad announcing the release date for a Houston Calls CD, On the day it was release, I made sure I went out and picked up the CD. It’s a lot more Pop than Punk, but extremely well produced, and the band’s talent shines. I’m still pretty amazed that a “bunch of local kids” wrote and recorded this CD. The sound is less artsy than Taking Back Sunday (another NJ band), and more pop than The Ataris. Throw in a little Homegrown and that would pretty much explain the style. If you like the harder music, you may not be into this band (my tastes vary widely).