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OAKCREST: LIVE @ THE ROCK SHOP By John M. Scrudder of The Independent Music Press Review June 12th 2009 If you happened upon the rock shop this past Friday night you would have caught a set performed by a hyper-kinetic band called Oakcrest. Oakcrest is a working class band from Santa Rosa, California and is the brainchild of brothers Tim Kranz (Vocalist), Max Kranz (Lead Guitarist, vocals) and their friend Jake Eckerty (Bass). Now living in Fayetteville, North Carolina the band has increased to five members. Van Lewis (Guitar) and Donnie Olsen (Drums) his last name may not in be Olsen, but I can’t honestly recall. The Set Opened with a rancorous song called “Choices“. Tim Kranz, sporting a make shift multi colored Mohawk screams into the microphone about scars, lies, manipulative devices and the such - While younger brother Max and rhythm guitarist Lewis keep a steady, almost overly confident sonic outpour that balanced out the Over enthusiastic Olsen and drums. There is no breathing room with this band, as soon as the first song ends Olsen gears up with an incredibly animated snare roll as they band dives into there second song. “Every time” Guitars Kranz builds up and screams off a 3,4 count and we enter into a strange wonderful hybrid world of Punk, Reggae, Rock and Metal. This song covered all bases and was a perfect example of what this band has to offer in regards to their musical prowess, ingenuity and balance between all 5 members when creating complex cross genre songs. Every time starts off running in a smoother version of the Germs chorus line of Richie Daggers Crime, this band is far more focused on insuring that there is an intelligible amount of time and energy put into the understanding of the lyrics and a compromised balance of sound for each of the instruments. The song abruptly breaks down into a reggae funk effortlessly pulled off by the rhythm section and this is where we learn that Tim Kranz has studied at the Nick Hexum school for singing. While younger brother max sounds like the offspring of an experimental baby created from the genes of lanyne staley and Scott Weiland, the juxtaposition of these two vocal styling’s creates a very interesting sound that is at the same time awkward and complimentary. The songs bridge invited what would be a continuous theme throughout the set; A very heavy metal break down that would instantly induce, foot stomping, head banging and moshing. Two songs pass before the energy hit’s the ceiling again with one of the bands strongest songs and most unusual songs, “Laced” it is here that we learn two very surprising things about the band. The first is that Drummer Olsen is extremely talented but doesn’t quite have the gist of the hybrid element down, and that’s not to say that he won’t but it is clear that there is an exploration factor here, something more along the lines of a growth development, at times, a double bass pedal is poorly executed in place of a single bass over a reggae theme when it the drums are clearly trying to impose more of a metal feeling, this of course, is my personal opinion, as I used to dabble on the drums a bit myself - Olsen is very confident and animated and is a pleasure to view while operating his kit - as the driving force of the band he only has a little way to go before he’s able to set it on cruise control. The Second is that the most surprising thing about the band was the two unassuming characters on the left and the right side of the stage. Guitaris Lewis and Bassist Eckerty. Eckerty (Looking like a dead ringer for Cone McCaslin) hammers his low strung base with the ferocity of a deranged chimpanzee and moves about the stage, with his strange floppish black hair, like some sort of lumbering acrobat with muscle atrophy. His coordination and balance on the Bass is bar none some of the best and most enthusiastic finger work I have seen in recent years… Now if he can just get that whole swinging the bass thing around the body like McCaslin, there’d be no stopping his progress. Van Lewis is the quietest and most unassuming member of the band. He plays quietly in the corner, complementing every lead by the younger Kranz but never trying to dominate or compete for exposure. Lewis seems to be the most seasoned of the members as he seems to have a clear identification of his role, he is very much a Brian Bell figure in the larger system of Cogs that work on the surface level. He seems content, confident (almost too confident, at point in time he sat down to play a few bars!) and sure of himself. Near the end though, Lewis pulled out his flying V Axe to show the extension of his manhood protruding from his groin as to say, “hey by the way, I can rock this bitch too!” Near the End of the Set, Oakcrest played one of the best originals I have heard in a long time, a song called “They Say” I will not tell you about this song, if you were there, you’d understand, if you weren’t then you’ll have to catch their next performance. The best thing about this band is that they’ll put on a fantastic show no matter how few or how many people there are, they came to rock (as indicated by Lead Singer Tim Kranz crawling around the stage and hanging from the rafter like an demented, escaped insane asylum patient) As far as longevity goes, this band is encroaching upon the doorstep of greatness but they are definitely not there The first half of the set blew me away - however, they lingered in the middle, kept confidently together by the amazing work of Guitarist Kranz, Lewis and Bassist Eckerty. Olsen and Singer Kranz showed signs of fatigue as the responsibility of entertainment seemed lopsidedly laid solely on them. If the guitars and bass stepped up there performance appearance by just a fraction, it would give the dread locked Olsen and the spiky haired Kranz a moment to rest in between each wonderful musical assault on the ears. Oakcrest is not an endurance band, not yet - but they soon will be - you can tell, there is a drive, a determination that is having them rise, however slowly, above the rest of the bands that are content to play small gigs and venture no further then their home towns. Oakcrest is looking to break down some walls and spread the sound like an infectious disease across this nation. I would not be surprised to hear of a future tour taking them across the U.S. in the near future. (On a side note I just found out that the drummers last name is Brunnette… I like Olsen better, so that’s his new name. Donnie Olsen) Oakcrest hits all the right notes with their hybrid sound. And hopefully, sometime soon, you’ll know exactly what I am talking about. Post a comment in response: |
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