A musical collaboration years in the making
This week’s feature is an object lesson. Do what you need to do day by day, but never lose sight of the long game. I first met Chris Moree while writing a piece on Genki Genki Panic several years ago. GGP was a new band then, a horror/sci-fi/surf group with a wickedly clever sense of humor.
It has never been necessary to get their highbrow puns (ain’t THAT an oxymoron?) and numerous literary references to appreciate the band; they’re blisteringly good at what they do. If you do get it, though, well that’s just icing on the cake and a clear indication that behind the uber-cool instrumentals there is a high degree of well-read intelligence.
When Chris contacted me recently to ask if I’d give a listen to his NEW band, Terminal Overdrive, there was a moment of “Well, dammit” since I assumed “new band” meant the “old band” was no more. Not the case at all, GGP is alive and well, if somewhat road-worn from a staggering workload of tours and recording original material.
The new band, well…it’s new inasmuch as the lineup is where it needs to be and they are in the studio and on the road. But as a concept it predates GGP and has been a very long time coming.
First and foremost, the members of the band. Terminal Overdrive features Moree on guitar along with GGP co-conspirator Chris Campbell on drums. No surprises there, as they work exceptionally well together and are both exemplary musicians.
Marshal Elkins, a lifelong friend of Moree, is on bass and it was Elkins with whom Chris first conceived of the band. Since the age of fifteen, the guys had been trying to get a music project going.
In 2012 the groundwork was laid for Terminal Overdrive. But after numerous false starts, the band was relegated largely to the back burner (and Dropbox exchanges) while the men pursued other opportunities.
If Moree and Elkins were the genesis of the band then newcomers Cara Madaris (vocals) and Jennifer Weaver (keyboards) were the final piece of the puzzle. And that’s where the story gets especially interesting.
A band eight years in the making seemed on the verge of stalling once again when their latest vocalist called it quits. A week later, Cara and Jen joined the band. A week after that, Terminal Overdrive recorded their first single and, oh children…to hear this bit of sonic brilliance you’d have to conclude the five had been raised together on some weird compound out in the wilderness, groomed from childhood to fulfill this one role.
What you wouldn’t expect is three of the five had never met each other until the day they recorded the single.
And that, my friends, is a bit of the real magic that is music and proof-positive that when the long game finally pays off, it does so exponentially.
Musically, it is hard to pin down, as most really great music is. Hard rock, experimental, industrial…it is part Nine Inch Nails, part Evanescence, part Sepultura, part My Chemical Romance. The guitar and rhythm section are just plain NASTY rock, hard-edged badassery that goes to eleven.
Cara’s vocals…lordy-loo, you might expect the kind of raspy, screaming sounds that promise to destroy a young singer’s vocal cords in a few years and you would be wrong, wrong, wrong. Cara sings with power and precision, smooth as silk and packing a wallop like a bolt of lightning. Jen’s keys form the bridge between the other instruments and the vocals.
Imagine a good old boy’s muscle car, hulking and imposing, sinister in its way, but under the hood is the finely tuned high-performance engine of a Lamborghini or Ferrari. That’s Terminal Overdrive.
A quick look and listen at their debut video single “Condescender” (available now on an internet near you) will convey the weird combination of raw power and refinement better than a thousand words ever could.
I defy anyone to check them out and not come away impressed, even without realizing over half the band had just met the day they recorded it.
Don’t take my word for it. Go see for yourself at the band’s debut gig on Friday, February 28th at JJ’s Bohemia where they’ll be playing alongside Pains Chapel and Fault Lines. Before that, head to the band’s Facebook page and check out the video for “Condescender”.
If you’re anything like me (I know I am) you’ll come away a true believer in what is easily one of the most brilliant new entries of 2020.