Rock Extravaganza, part II

Last week I brought you the varied and, for lack of a better word, strange tones of Electric Six. This week your dose of rock is much more focused, though perhaps equally odd. Bang Camaro is an incredibly large Rock/Metal group from the Boston area that has been melting faces since 2005. I discovered them through Guitar Hero 2 with their bonus track entitled "Push Push (Lady Lightning)". While a pleasure to play on a 5-fret, 1-string plastic guitar, sometimes it's best simply to just listen. And such is the case with Bang Camaro. With somewhere around 15 people in the band (and often more), the sound is never subtle. In fact they are quite the opposite. It doesn't get much more in-your-face than 1 drummer, 1 bassist, 3 guitars and somewhere between 10 and 15 singers. Shortly after arriving in Boston I went to a free show featuring Bang Camaro which set the love affair in motion.

Bang Camaro's self titled debut album runs the spectrum of essential hard rock sounds: ranging from shit-your-pants-rock, to crush-your-skull-metal, to slower-ballads-that-will-still-shit-on-your-soul. Utilitarian drumming and minimal bass work really allow the guitars to steal the show. Serving as the focal point for Camaro's sound, the 3 guitars unique layered sound draws your attention immediately. That or the fact that every song sounds as if it was built around a guitar solo foundation. Supplementing the technical guitar work, an entire host of singers delivers the simplistic lyrics in a manner that could not possibly fit better. It's almost as if Bang Camaro has created music in reverse when compared with most music today. The lyrics exist almost exclusively for the chorus, whereas the guitar work does all the talking that is needed. These 'backwards' style songs are incredibly easy to listen to (and to admire as well!). But perhaps Bang Camaro's greatest asset exists in its honesty: They're not trying to redefine a genre or issue their thoughts on politics/social realities/whatever-is-hip-and-cool, they just want to rock out. Hard. And that goal is easily achieved. Here are a few poor-quality vids of my favorite Bang Camaro songs: Nightlife Commando (kicks in around 22 seconds in), Swallow the Razor (in modded GH2 format!), and of course Pleasure. Watch, imagine what a live concert in a tiny venue would be like, then feel extreme envy for me.

The best part about Bang Camaro is: You can join! While they originated in Boston, they are now touring across the country and need choir members to sing along with them in various cities. See this video for more details.

As the Guitar Hero 2 loading screen put it (and oh-so-eloquently I might add): "Bang Camaro is half man, half machine, and all dude."

Next up: DRIST