My bud, Amanda, here at The Aquarian Weekly recently asked me to check out her friend’s band, The Big Dangerous. She told me that they were from Nutley, NJ, and would be perfect for North Jersey Notes. I had to tell Amanda that I would be the judge of that! Just kidding, Amanda! I actually went straight to their MySpace page to check them out. If you’re a fan of underground-skater-punk, you will love these guys! Their sound is so raw and yet so old school! I got to hear the songs “Textbook,” “Mild Peril,” and “NGO” off of The Big Dangerous’ EP Darth Vader Hot Air Balloon Ride. I particularly liked the simplicity and the catchiness of these guitar riffs. It seems like these guys know that they’re not reinventing the wheel, but they’re willing to have fun trying!
The Big Dangerous started out as a project called The Volume Library, who needed a bass player. It turned out that bassist Brennan was just returning from one of his Indiana excursions, and it just so happened that he had a bass with him. It was a bass that he did not even know how to tune at the time. Unfortunately, everyone from The Volume Library picked up and moved away with the exception of Ricky, the drummer, and Brennan. Brennan and Ricky decided to continue as The Big Dangerous, but they were missing a guitarist, so after weeks of playing cover songs, Brennan suddenly found a kid named Eric who happened to play guitar. The trio clicked instantly! The three played shows for about a year, but realized something was still missing until Eric brought in one of his buds, Kevin, to play as a second guitarist. The boys from The Big Dangerous felt that the music sounded fuller and was brought more to life with the addition of Kevin.
After playing tons and tons of shows, The Big Dangerous finally decided to record and released their debut seven-song EP titled Darth Vader Hot Air Balloon Ride. You can check out some of the tracks or find out where you can see The Big Dangerous live, by logging onto (and I love this MySpace url!) myspace.com/totallyfuckingheinous.
NORTH JERSEY NOTES UPDATES:
Here’s some news from the Ape Fight camp! The boys are not dead! According to these friendly furry whack jobs, they’re recording their new CD and planning the biggest move in music history, whatever that means! They’re also planning the very first “Ape Fight Booze Cruise 2008!” Yes, they’ve totally lost their minds now! Turns out, Ape Fight has rented a big boat to have a huge party on September 27, and you’re all invited. To get your tickets and find out more info on this event, log onto apefight.com.
Good news for my new favorite North Jersey band Piston Driven. It looks like one of my favorite bass players to come out of North Jersey, AJ, has joined the band to play bass. AJ has played with the likes of Marc Rizzo from Soulfly and Committee Of Thirteen. For those of you who don’t know AJ, he’s one of the best in the business! Check out Piston Driven at myspace.com/pistondriven or catch them live when they make their Dingbatz debut in Clifton, NJ, on August 9.
And finally, in case you haven’t heard it yet, my boys from Rahway have posted a new song from their long awaited new CD Snitches Get Stitches on their MySpace page. The song is called “Broken Disease” and it rocks, which by the way, comes as no surprise because the boys from Rahway are excellent musicians! Check out the new track “Broken Disease” at myspace.com/rahway.
That’s all for now! If your band is from North Jersey and you want some exposure, send your demos and press kits to Arts Weekly, c/o Tim Louie P.O. Box 1140 Little Falls, NJ 07424. No cover bands, please!
Just remember… We’re all in the same boat, so every little bit of exposure counts!
