Disclaimer: This piece was originally intended for the local art paper, Telephone. However it took some time to finish and since the tape's been out since October, it's probably too late to have it reviewed in a bi-weekly publication. However, it still deserves your attention! I shot the shit with Bo Davis and Josh Draher of the Messrs at a local coffee shop in December of 2013. Better late then never...
MESSRS are a killer
punk rock band from Columbus, Ohio with a line-up of folks who have had a hand
in shaping our indie/punk music scene as members of various projects, such as
Necropolis, Guinea Worms, Unholy Two, The Ipps, Razors, etc., over the last
decade or so. True, the combined cache of wisdom and experience goes a long
way, but so does the magical racket coming out of the speakers at ear splitting
volumes, the sheer force of their live performances, and the genuine need to
rock that brought them together on this project. Started in 2011, by a group of
childhood friends, Aron Nichols on vocals, Josh Draher on bass and Bo Davis on
guitar, they lost their original drummer, who relocated to Chicago, after just
one practice. Stick man-extraordinaire Mat Bisaro, whom Davis played with in a
number of projects, was invited to take the vacant spot. “Aron wanted to start
some kind of mean band,” said Davis as we sat down in the local coffee shop,
along with Draher, to discuss the band and their tape, released in October of
2013, on Columbus’ Savage Quality Recordings.
The tape, their
first, appropriately titled, Messrs Tape,
was recorded throughout 2012. First half of it was done at the infamous CDR
studio, recorded by Davis and Bisaro’s Necropolis comrade BJ Holesapple, with
the other half recorded by Davis himself in the band’s practice space on the
8-track tape deck. Offered here are 7 tracks drenched in feedback and enough
low-fi hiss to make one curl into fetal position and beg for mercy. The things get
kicked off with a noisy rager, Glass Love,
a drums forward sonic blast that sets the tone for the rest of this release. NF is another aggressive fuzzed out
number, followed by Cash, which has a
very cool break down in the middle, offering a kind of change of pace, before
throwing itself of the cliff again. Things do slow down on My Good Eye, a song sporting some nice guitar effects of a thumping
repeating riff, with bass literally thundering in the back ground as Nichols’
howling gives the listener a real feeling of discomfort deep in the gut.
I did ask Davis
and Draher if they thought the lyrics that their front man writes are personal.
They both smiled: “He claims it’s not personal, but we think it’s personal,”
suggested Davis, adding: “Personal murder fiction”. Makes you wonder…
Things start
moving at break-neck speed again on the tape’s B side. Driving Hand is a short aggressive outburst of hardcore. A mean
one! NS is another slow one. In my humble
opinion, Bisaro’s drumming really stands out on this one. Things wrap up with
the supremely neurotic Red Face/White
Face an appropriately messy, speedy exclamation point on the whole thing.
On their
not playing as many gigs right now the band claims they are taking a break to
write new material, simply because they are tired of playing the old songs. And
the rest of us will hope the new material comes sooner than later. Meanwhile,
do yourselves a favor and pick up the MESSRS tape in only the coolest record
stores in Columbus, or order it directly from Savage Quality on-line at:
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