Frontman Scott Lawson reports that his Orange Crush, after more than a decade establishing itself as one of the Valley's premiere cover bands, has recently made its first foray into the arena of original composition—squeezing out enough new material during some fruitful recording sessions at Westfield's Zing Studios that a debut full-length release (tentatively titled O-Crush) has been slated for this fall.
And the impetus for the Grand Band Slam Hall of Famers' sudden audio epiphany?
"I wish it was something profound, but really, we just ran out of excuses," laughs Lawson. "We'd be playing show after show, and people always come up to us after and ask if we have a disc with our own stuff. There's an increasing number of bands emerging these days with the obvious '80s influences that we have been honing for years… so we finally figured, why not?"
With tips of the fedora to such era icons as U2, The Cars and The Police, O-Crush is rife with cheeky anthems ("Sausage Party," "Leg Warmerz"), reggae-tinged rockers ("He Can Give You Everything, But I Can Give A Little More") and the obligatory power ballad ("You Cannot One More").
While Lawson revealed that many of the debut disc's nine offerings were originally penned and recorded by him in his home studio, he adds that bandmates Jeremy Simonich, Rich Yirga and Tom Kielbania, Jr. swiftly pounded his sonic sculptures into proper "new '80s shape."
"Everything started to take on a life of its own, and we wrote a few new tunes during that period, too," he recalls.
As the band re-enters the studio this month to mixdown the finished product, expect a slightly less than Crush-ing blow to its touring schedule, warns Lawson. In fact, as of press time, an April 18 engagement at the Southwick Inn looks to be the OC-boys' only area show in the immediate future that is not either a private event or a college gig.
This Friday, April 4, Lawson will also be performing with another outfit he fronts, the Mambo Sons, at Black Eyed Sally's in Hartford on a bill that includes special guest/Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Hilton Valentine of The Animals infamy.
In stark contrast, Peyton Pinkerton and his New Radiant Storm King have been peddling their patented blend of shoegazer pop—and cranking out dozens of studio releases—for just shy of two decades now. In discussing his band's seemingly ceaseless supply of inspiration to create, Pinkerton invoked… The Donald?
"There was this interview with Trump years ago, and when they asked him what more he could want in life, his reply was, 'One dollar,'" he recalls. "Back then, I thought it was the most greedy, piggish thing I had ever heard. Now older, though, I have a different take on what he really meant, and I think it applies to this band. One more record—every time."
This Saturday, April 5, NRSK will play all the tunes from their upcoming, thus-far untitled disc at a special Brass Cat show in Easthampton with chums Dr. Powerful of North Carolina in support.
"It's exciting, of course, as it will be our first live show in a year," Pinkerton says of the "CD release party—sans a finished CD" performance. "But also odd, since we know not one soul in attendance will have heard one note of any songs we will play."
Lastly, it appears the recording bug has also bitten Valley veteran John Sheldon, who reports that he will have the reels turning when he performs at Greenfield's Winterland April 5 in hopes of culling enough material for a live release in the near future.
"We recently got back together with our sax player of many years, Joe Roderick, and I really like the way things have been sounding," Sheldon says of the decision to document the affair. "Plus, we did a show at Winterland previously, and the room is simply amazing."
Send correspondence to Nightcrawler, P.O. Box 427, Somers, CT 06071; fax to (860) 698-9373 or email Garycarra@aol.com.
