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20 Years of Poi Dog Pondering
by Matheson

Celebrating 20 years together as a band is something that rarely happens in the music industry. Most bands that last that many years usually are a band only part of the time. When the band is not either writing, recording or touring, the members go their own directions and live their lives alone, keeping their musical lives and personal lives separate.

The secret behind the longevity of the band Poi Dog Pondering is somewhat different: During its history, the band has always had a rotating cast of musicians, with each album being made by a different line-up than the last. With this way of existing, Poi dog pondering has lasted 20 years and has created 7 albums that feature completely different sounds and styles that are unique to that album and its recording sessions.

During the 20 years that Poi Dog pondering has been together as a band, the only constant in the group has been Frank Orrall. It was Frank and the original line-up of the band that made its way from Hawaii to the mainland in 1987. From there, the band has continuously changed and morphed from one formation to another.

The band has changed its sound and style several times. Depending on several factors (the city in which the band was living, the current line-up of the band, what was going on musically at the time, and other things), the style of the band's sound changed dramatically.

The original sound of the band was acoustic in style, then the band started incorporating dance music into its sound, and today's is very soulful. But no matter which version of the band you hear, Poi Dog Pondering has kept the same feeling to their music that makes their music unlike anyone else.

After 20 years, Poi Dog Pondering has created seven albums that capture their style of writing from each time period in their history. In 2008, the band released their latest album entitled "7". "7" follows in line with the band's other releases in the way that each song has a feeling all its own, making this release, like the rest of the albums in the band's discography, very eclectic. This eclectic style of writing is one of the things that make Poi Dog Pondering unique.

Another thing that sets the band apart from other groups is the amount of musicians that helped to bring "7" together as an album. Along with the core of Frank Orrall, Susan Mary Voelz, Ted Cho, John Nelson and Dave Max Crawford, Poi Dog Pondering for this album is made up of Dag Juhlin, Kornell Hargrove, Ron Hall, Charlette Wortham, Rick Gehrenbeck, Dan Leali. "7" also includes appearances by PDP alumnus Abra Moore, who appeared with the band back in its earlier days. Along with the main players that help make up the band for this album, many others joined in to help flesh out the sound.

The soul-based rock that the band created on songs like Sticky, Lemon Drop Man, and others, is made unique with the addition of unusual instruments like jaw harp, vibes, the ever-present ukulele, mandolin, as well as violins and horns. Along with drums, guitars, bass guitar, and keyboards, these instruments help to create the sound that has made Poi Dog Pondering different from the rest of the bands out there right now and from bands that have existed for the last two decades.

Having recorded for two decades, Poi Dog Pondering has an extensive discography that includes seven albums (including the newest album, "7"), and many compilations, as well. The band is definitely worth the time to check out; and the perfect place to start for anyone unfamiliar with the band is their latest release, "7".



Matheson Checks Out
the Groove Rock of Stealing Jane

The music industry has always been known for pushing the latest thing. But it also has a tendency to take a sure thing and run it into the ground. There are always hundreds of bands out there that are trying to get noticed at any given point. And if you follow the latest trend in the music scene, you seem to have a better chance of being signed. However, this also creates a situation where everyone starts to sound the same. Every band starts to sound like every other band; which creates a style or trend in the industry, but also starts to make the music played on the radio sound monotonous and boring.

Because of the trends that make music predictable and boring, it is always refreshing to come across a band like Stealing Jane, a band from the north shore of Long Island, New York. The eight-member band has created a style that incorporates rock, pop, R&B, even a little ska into its sound. Their style has been christened "groove rock," a good way of describing what they sound like.

Stealing Jane came together in 2001 under the moniker of HyJinX. A few changes later and the band became known as Stealing Jane in 2007. Today, the band consists of eight members: Bryce Larsen on lead vocals/guitar, Pat Iannelli on sax/vocals, Andrew Mericle on trumpet/vocals, Brian Bunce on bass/vocals, Matt Giordano on guitar/vocals, Dave Calzone on trombone/vocals, Jesse Sears on keyboard/guitar, and Will Tully on drums/percussion.

Together, the eight-man band has a style that definitely is not something that can be grouped together with everything else out there right now. It is this unique sound that the band has put onto their debut release, 2007's Say Something.

Say Something contains six songs that help define what the band is all about. Along with rock, pop, R&B, and ska, the disc also contains more than a few traces of Latin flavor as Bryce Larsen handles not only English lyrics, but on the Ricky Martin-like song More, he also handles the Spanglish lyrics with ease.

Along with More, the rest of the Say Something EP could easily find it's way onto radio station formats. The strongest tracks on the album include Outside, Better Things, and the acoustically based track of Take It Easy. But the whole CD is definitely worth listening to. Stealing Jane is currently excited about a video they just made. The video is for the single Outside and will be available for viewing in the near future.

With the band's "groove rock" style, Long Island's Stealing Jane has their own sound and their own way of making music. With a lot of today's music sounding bland and unexciting, Stealing Jane needs to be in your music collection.



The Rock and Roll Report Gets a Taste of the American Werewolves

Although punk rock is still around as a musical genre, the style is almost unidentifiable as punk. When most of the bands creating the music have taken the genre and combined it with other styles of rock, the most hardened fans of the style would argue that what is being created now is not real punk rock.

With most of the punk rock music out there today sounding more like alternative than punk rock, it is always a nice change of pace when you come across a band that has made a vow to stay true to the spirit of bands like The Misfits. One such band that is creating punk rock that sounds like punk rock is Cleveland, Ohio's American Werewolves. And while the band incorporates some hardcore and doo-wop into their current sound, the feeling and spirit of real punk rock is still more than evident in their music. But with hardcore and doo-wop incorporated in their music, American Werewolves have a sound that is theirs and theirs alone.

American Werewolves is a four-piece outfit that came together under the moniker of The Plan in 1998, but had solidified into the current line-up and moniker by 2003. The punk rock outfit is made up of Trevor Moment on violent crooning, Brendan Less on guitars, Tony Scambony on bass, and Nate 68 on drums.

The "68" in Nate 68's name refers to 1968, a time period that is held in high esteem by the members of American Werewolves. That year is like "the birth of the modern era of horror," as Trevor Moment once claimed. Certain events, like the debut release of "Night of the Living Dead" and other things made the year very sentimental in the hearts of the musicians who have incorporated horror and death into the lyrics of their songs. The horror motif that runs through songs like "In Haunted Lives" and "For the Cursed" also help to make the music of American Werewolves different than much of the music being produced by today's groups.

"In Haunted Lives" and "For the Cursed" are just two of the songs on the newest release by the punk rock band. The album, "The Lonely Ones," is one of the finest moments in recent memory for the punk rock genre. The 2008 album is the latest for American Werewolves and the first for the band on the Robot Monster record label. This album follows the previous releases by the band "We Won't Stay Dead," "1968," and the demo that the band put out during the time in which they were known as The Plan.

If you are a fan of real punk rock, American Werewolves' new release "The Lonely Ones" is one of album you must experience. Let the band's combination of punk rock, hardcore, doo-wop, and horror themes make a believer out of you that there is still real punk rock being created by bands in the 21st century.