The Chills, The Buzzcocks, Wire, Mission of Burma, The Byrds, David Bowie, My Bloody Valentine, The Ramones, Bevis Frond, Spoon, Tobin Sprout, Husker Du, Guided By Voices.
Sounds Like
"Morgantown's transient population generates a vibrant but inconsistent music scene. Few bands persist longer than a flash of momentary brilliance. They play a couple hops-soaked shows at 123 Pleasant Street before the members disperse to Asheville, N.C., or Brooklyn, N.Y. Unlike a number of their counterparts now lost to memory, the Braille Drivers (Ben Doyle, bass and vox; J. Marinelli, guitars and vox; Billy Sheeder, guitar, keyboard and vox; Fuzzy Slavensky, drums) have not only persisted, but thrived. The eponymous opening track of the new EP Mother of Pearl presents a West Virginian interpretation of shoegazing. This slightly downtempo ditty reminds me of an update of Dots + Borders, a sonorous band on Tokyo's now defunct Trattoria label. In "Pulling On My Heart," Fuzzy Slavensky detonates a crushingly thick, four-on-the-floor drum beat. His drumming is as certain as scurvy on a wind-whipped pirate ship washed up on a rocky cliff. This track rocks so hard, you might want to check the waterbed for punctures. Is that a whiff of Lou Barlow and Beltbuckle on "New Year's Song"? Here, Braille Drivers present themselves as a collective of lo-fi balladeers willing to take a beating for rock 'n' roll. Honest, bruising songs like this are the reason many of us got into indie rock in the first place. Haunted by Hope" should be called "Haunted by Nostalgia." It harkens back to the cusp of the 1990s when rock anthems still had meaning and the hipsters had yet to trade their passion for irony. This tune is forward-looking but firmly rooted in history. A highly unpopular war, riots in the streets and a song like this. Is it the second coming of the summer of love?" -- Johnny Hindenburg
Discography:****************************************************
Split 7" w/ Miss Lonelyheart (Molecular Labs 1997)**********************
"Fingerprintz" (plus three) 7" e.p. (HFR 1999)***************************
White Dwarfs and Red Giants CD (Molecular Labs 2000)******************
"Mother of Pearl" (plus three) CD/EP (LSD and D 2004)*******************
4A.M. Sharp CD (unreleased, but in the can since 2005)
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