Alternative rock group Before Braille to perform at GroovaciousEd Kocieta - Cedar City, UT - Daily NewsWhen I hear of a new alternative rock band, I usually groan and wonder how so many young people can be so disgruntled about so little. It was kind of like the fallout of the bands that came and went around the time of Nivana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam when Eddie Vedder still cared about his music. Whiny lyrics undercut with minor chord patterns became all too familiar. Before Braille, however, an alternative rock group out of Mesa, Ariz. stands apart from the current bored-with-life posture of so many alt rockers. I mean, there are some melodic undertones to their energetic, raw style of music. If you follow some of the punk bands, think of what MIA sounded like when compared with some of their noisy contemporaries. Before Braille will perform at 7 p.m. Monday at Groovacious, in that cozy little nook in the back of the store. This isn't your mama's rock and roll but based on the band's debut CD "The Rumor," it takes the best elements of the alt music scene and mixes them liberally with a musical sensibility so many of us in the geezer rock generation find highly palatable with good guitar work and solid vocals and songwriting. "Twenty Four Minus Eighteen," the first single from the album, hit the college radio charts at No. 1 the week it was released on the small, independent Aezra Records label. You need to check these guys out. They won't crash your synapse with a heavy metal thud, nor jabber away in the monosyllabic drone of hip-hop, gangsta rap. They've been playing this band a lot on Power 91, the Southern Utah University radio station, which is the only place in town you can keep up with real rock music recorded some time in this century. Now you can see them for free at Groovacious. Back to the Press page |