I was recently messaged on Facebook by The Clocktown Giants guitarist Joey Hayek to check out his band, and as always, I love checking out new and cool bands on the local scene and then letting you know about them. This is one of those times. As a writer, you have to love when a band is confident enough to send you an email asking you to check them out. You just hope they live up to the hype of their email. The Clocktown Giants did live up to the hype. I only got to hear the song “Break Me,” but if you ask me, this song had a little bit of everything. I couldn’t even place a genre on this song and at times singer Chris Ferrante sounded like a young Ozzy Osbourne. Notice, I said “at times” and not throughout the song.
There was not much info on the The Clocktown Giants online since they only formed early last year, 2014, and that they come from Ramsey, NJ. The band attributes their original brand of aggressive and precise hard rock sound to the variety of influences and musical backgrounds that each member brings to the band. Within the past year, The Clocktown Giants have covered Jersey with their music, winning over fans one person at a time at such venues as The Stanhope House, Dingbatz, Crossroads, Tenth Street Live and the legendary Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ, where they’ve opened for bands like Hawthorne Heights and Midnight Eternal. Joining singer and guitarist Chris Ferrante and guitarist Joey Hayek in The Clocktown Giants is bassist Will Davis and drummer Luke Schaffel.
The Clocktown Giants produced their own self-titled five-song EP, which they released in June of 2014. The production is not bad for a bunch of newcomers to the scene. The EP is available on the band’s Bandcamp page, theclocktowngiants.bandcamp.com. For more info on The Clocktown Giants and to find out where they’re playing next, visit the band’s Facebook page, facebook.com/TheClocktownGiants.
NORTH JERSEY NOTES UPDATES:
My bros from Killcode just released a brand new song called “Kicking And Screaming” for public consumption. Talk about anthemic hooks! “Kicking And Screaming” follows the recipe for your typical rock anthem and it is tasty. Singer Tom Morrissey’s vocals sound great on this song too. Killcode has found a niche in their songwriting and Killcode fans will love this new material. Also, from the Killcode camp, the band has opened its merch store and is now selling “Killcode Klothing” featuring exclusive artwork by the talented Joey James Hernandez. For more on their merch store and to hear “Kicking And Screaming,” log onto killcode.net.
The boys from Upstate New York’s Nasty Habit have released a brand new single and video for their song “Turn Up The Radio.” I’ve written about these guys in the past and if you love that retro-hairband-type of rock, you will love these kids! I’m glad to see them on this summer’s Warped Tour, but I’d love to see these kids get bigger than even the Warped Tour. Watching their videos remind me of a time when rock music was fun! Check them out and their new video for “Turn Up The Radio” by visiting NastyHabitKills.com.
And finally, this Sunday night (8/30) at Crossroads in Garwood, NJ, there will a battle of the bands “final round” for “The Crusade” contest. This is the battle of the bands for local unsigned bands to have a chance to perform at the inaugural Food Truck and Rock Carnival at Oak Ridge Park in Clark, NJ from Sept. 18 until Sept. 20. Just in case you didn’t know. Fighting for a spot this Sunday night will be bands like Ronin, Dead Fish Handshake, Flowers To Flames and Stillphase just to name a few. For more info, visit TheRockCarnival.com.
That’s all for now! If your band is from North Jersey, and you want some exposure, send your press kits to Arts Weekly, c/o Tim Louie P.O. Box 1140, Little Falls, NJ 07424, or you can email me at tim@theaquarian.com, where you can also let me know where you’re performing next!
Just remember….We’re all in the same boat, so every little bit of exposure counts!
Tim Louie is the Author of S**t Happens.
NJN Concert Calendar:
8/27—Silent on Fifth Street/I, Ventriloquist/Robots and Monsters—The Meat Locker, Montclair, NJ
8/27—the hums/THE CLOCKTOWN GIANTS/The Mountain Chiefs—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
8/27—New Day Dawn/Saving Abel/One Hundred Thousand/Roulette/Crash NY—The Stanhope House, Stanhope, NJ
8/28—Julez (of Brand of Julez) Solo Acoustic Show—The Bowery Electric, NYC
8/28—Jersey Campfires Presents: Legacy/Chevonne and The Fuzz/Empire Fallen/Sucker/Lost Cause—Roxy and Dukes Roadhouse, Dunellen, NJ
8/28—Help Me Help You/Quaaludes/The Planet You/Weird and Wonderful Words/Devon Goods—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
8/29—Flowers to Flames—Blackthorn 51, Elmhurst, NY
8/29—Atom Strange—Arlene’s Grocery, NYC
8/29—Raven—Tenth Street Live, Kenilworth, NJ
8/29—Bubba Grouch/The Gripes—The Stanhope House, Stanhope, NJ
8/29—The Stripped Down Aces/Red Letter Life/Kosmic Daydream/The Randy Haze Trio—The Clash Bar, Clifton, NJ
8/29—The Detonators—The Orange Lantern, Paramus, NJ
8/30—The Crusade Contest (Ronin/Dead Fish Handshake/Flowers to Flames/Stillphase)—Crossroads, Garwood, NJ
9/3—Darrow Chemical Co./Children of October/Graveyard Tree—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
9/6—Mikell’s Plot—Pompton Lakes Day Festival, Pompton Lakes, NJ
9/9—Gothic Knights/Angra—B.B. King’s Blues Club, NYC
9/10—TOTH—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
9/11—Unearthly/KroW—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
9/12—Sworn Enemy/Robots and Monsters/Moon Tooth/Unkempt Herald—Maxwell’s Tavern, Hoboken, NJ
9/12—Aurin—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
9/12—Full Scale Riot—Grease Monkey Block Party, Brooklyn, NY
9/13—Battlecross/Ashes of Your Enemy/Monument of a Memory/That of a Lion—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
9/19—Food Truck and Rock Carnival Day 1—Oak Ridge Park, Clark, NJ
9/20—Food Truck and Rock Carnival Day 2—Oak Ridge Park, Clark, NJ
9/25—Rahway/Ace Frehley/Brand of Julez/Knucklebone—Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ
