The class of 2001

The cream of Worcester's new musical crop

By Phil McNamara

Worcester has a rich rock and roll history, built band by band, from club to club, year by year. Some bands disappear before you can say, "Hey, I should check those guys out." Some make it past a year, actually improve, and give their fans years of memories. Out of the 100-plus regional bands that I've seen in the past two years, I can name less than a dozen that are still together. This survey of some of the most recent arrivals on the local music scene will contain more observations than predictions, though I can't assure you that some of those observations won't be wrong.

SIMPLE DISCOURSE

No year in the Worcester music scene is complete without at least one entry from a local college, usually consisting of undergraduate neophytes playing jam, funk, or ska; but these guys actually play tight, shoegazing Brit- pop (maybe they're exchange students). Even if Simple Discourse's members hail from other states, they all met here (specifically, The Pub at Holy Cross). During their debut performance at The Lucky Dog, Simple Discourse played to a dozen way-psyched college kids, and several dozen indifferent bystanders. While audiences can pick up on a jam or funk groove right away, brainy pop takes a while to catch on to. Maybe folks will "get" them next time, although perhaps not their originals, "Twenty Seven" and "Pure," which are a bit abstract, with J Mascis-like musings. Just when you think that the members of Simple Discourse are thoughtful, introspective collegians, they come up with an inspired cover version of the Britney Spears teeny-pop dance hit "Crazy," that totally rocks.

SIMON

Mike Finneran and Jeremy Sinkus had been writing songs with Jeff Burch for almost two years when they found drummer Josh Teter, and became the tight, jamming, original work-in-progress known as Simon. Teter gets my pick for happiest drummer in town; the man is nonstop smiles when he's pounding the skins. At first listen, these guys sound like they'd make the perfect Grateful Dead tribute band. Their jams are heavily improvisational, both guitarists have that Jerry Garcia T-wah effect, and vocalist/bassist Sinkus even sounds a lot like Ron "Pigpen" McKernan (The Dead's first, now deceased, singer/organist, for all you youngsters); however, they've got a lot more going on that warmed-over space jams. Throughout their set they fuse hip-shaking numbers like "La Latin" and "Blue Balls" with strange, jazzy meanderings reminiscent of early Pink Floyd in their psychedelia, and middle-period King Crimson in their tightness. Simon's set was all-original, with no covers, but the forty or so fans at The Tammany Club (not too shabby for a Monday night) didn't seem to mind. It's only a matter of time before Simon are wowing the weekend crowds.

FLIP 55

Give these kids an A for effort. Whether they're banging out their thrashy ska tunes to five or 50 people (which was the range of attendance during their October string of Thursday nights at the Lucky Dog), Flip 55 never let down their intensity level. At a recent Tammany Club gig, they came out gleefully hopping, barreling through some sound trouble before getting the crowd skanking along too. Whereas many bands feel no impact from 18+ nights, it makes all the difference for Flip 55. A good 20 to 30 people there were under 21.

More than any ska band, they remind me of Boston punk greats Doc Hopper, especially their "remember the 80s" covers of Tommy Tutone and Bryan Adams. Singers Jon and Mario are ska shout-along types, but in the future, they may come up with subtleties, nuances, and such. But for now, their spazzed-out ska/punk's good enough to keep their fans happy and skanking.

ACEPHALUS

Death metal is alive and well and living in Worcester. Witness the moshing crowds at the most recent Acephalus show at the Palladium. John, their lead singer, incited Cookie Monster-style sing-a-longs among the crowd of over two hundred headbangers. Drawing a crowd of this size is an amazing feat in itself, considering that a few short years ago, a local death metal band would have been lucky to draw a dozen of their friends to a gig (actually they were lucky if they had a dozen friends). Acephalus have decent chops and put on a fun live show, so what's not to like? Well, they are knuckleheads (you weren't expecting them to be rocket scientists, were you?). During the set, John offers a free T-shirt to any girl in the audience that will bare her breasts for the band, and gets the crowd chanting, "Tits, tits, tits." This loutish behavior might not fly elsewhere, but here in the home of WAAF, it is cheered enthusiastically. The females in attendance, who probably accounted for, at most, 20 percent of the crowd, resisted the peer pressure and kept their shirts on. Although the lack of exposed flesh disappointed much of the audience, the punishing, metallic attack of Acephalus most certainly did not.

This list, by no means comprehensive, is merely a sampling of some of the more impressive new bands that have emerged in the past year. In the months ahead, look for the Phoenix to feature more of the best up-and-coming bands in the Worcester area.