Vic Lazar has been one of the greatest local musicians for the past 15 years, at least. His roster of past and present projects could fill a festival roster twice over. From His epic singer/songwriter work as Vox Humana, to being one third of the post-punk prog legends Knife Crazy, to His timeless ambient-electro collab with Pam Swarts in VictoryBlackLightHoney.
Ahem, with that out of the way...
Patrons of Sweet is like a 48-oz. steak, cut straight from the cow and tossed on the coals of an open-pit fire. Charred on the outside and bloody within, the is nothing subtle going on here. At times, the new record Nothing Drastic-- like last years Go Whatevers!, can be a ham-fisted take on mid-90s college rock. Throughout much of the album, Lazar and company switch between two volumes: 8 and 11. With an emphasis on urgency, the songs never have a chance to breath as the band throws in a new riff, tempo change, or vocal line almost every four bars. There are virtually no intro passages, no instrumental sections, no interludes, no crescendos, and no codas. As a rule, most of Nothing Drastic rarely comes within a whiff of anything that could be described as a groove. One of the only exceptions can be found in the album's transcendent closer-- "Under Such Heavy Surveillance."
A lack of repetitive grooves runs counter-intuitive to what one might expect from a group heavily influenced by 90s rock. Laying down a groove is a tool that last decade's alt-rockers wielded masterfully. From Fugazi to My Bloody Valentine to the Pixies and Nirvana, these bands knew the value of letting their songs breath and bounce.
The 90s also saw the renaissance of original guitar playing and like so many other Vic Lazar records, Nothing Drastic excels as a guitar masterstroke. While not entirely technical, the album is chock-full of original and unexpected twists and turns of the guitar phrase. Nothing Drastic should be required listening for anyone cynical of our local talent.
Many of the songs on this new record are obtuse and multilayered, revealing more to the listener with each successive pass through. With that in mind, The Patrons are at their absolute best when unloading titanic hooks, as first evidenced in the somewhat poppier Go Whatevers! "There's No More Room in the Beehive" and "Almost Executable" are two songs on Nothing Drastic that showcase the new lineup, with drummer Dave Bordin and bass player Matt Lavin, in full pop-bombast. However, these moments are too few and far between and could be evidence the band is still better off basking in the sunlight rather than wallowing in the muck.
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