A couple of weeks ago, I featured a band called Ender featuring my bud Danny Lavarco on drums. Well, it turned out, Danny plays in two bands. When he emailed me about Ender, he also emailed me to let me know about his other band Decades, which is bit more alternative rock than his metal Ender project. Danny said to me in the email, “Both bands are polar opposites of each other.” Well, he wasn’t exactly kidding! Decades is way lighter than Ender, but just as tasty. Singer Jose Rodriguez’s voice is pretty amazing. After listening to songs like “Ivory,” “Marian” and my favorite track, “Into The Mouth Of The River,” it was evident that Danny Lavarco is part of two really good bands in North Jersey.
According to their bio, Decades is an alt-rock band out of East Rutherford, who formed only a couple of years ago in 2014. The band consists of singer Jose Rodriguez, guitarists Nicholas Alfieri and Jeff Tussi, bassist Daniel Martin and drummer Danny Lavarco. Decades’ music is heavily influenced by metal and melodic music, creating a style of music that appeals to an audience who are fans of hard-hitting lyrics, sweet melodies, or guitar-playing wizardry.
Decades just released their debut EP, Similar Lights, featuring the songs I mentioned earlier. These songs are well-written and extremely vocally focused, but supported by some amazing musicianship. The songs show a wide-range of diversity, leaving the band’s audience a nice variety to listen to. Decades is currently promoting Similar Lights wherever they can land a gig. Find out where they are playing next by visiting Facebook.com/DecadesMusic, where you can also learn more about the band.
NORTH JERSEY NOTES UPDATES:
The Food Truck and Rock Carnival’s return was announced a couple of weeks ago for FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood, NJ from September 30 to October 2 with the highlight of the weekend being a “final farewell” to the mighty Twisted Sister. My brothers from Killcode were part of that major announcement as one of the bands performing at the second annual event. With all of these great things happening to them, I hit singer Tom Morrissey up to congratulate him and the boys. Tom was ecstatic about the news, but most of all, he was excited about the band’s new CD, which he emailed me to listen to. After listening to the songs “The Answer,” “Show Me,” the more mellow “Own It Now” featuring Chris Wyse from the Ace Frehley Band, and the anthemic “Kickin’ And Screamin’,” it’s clear that these boys are used to playing together now, even with the addition of Panzie* guitarist DC Gonzalez. The songwriting has come really far since “6 A.M. Again.” The songs were heavy, extremely riff-driven as always, and supported by great vocals. I can’t wait for Killcode to actually release this CD. If you’d like to catch the Killcode crew live, you can do it tonight (5/25) in the Marlin Room at Webster Hall in NYC with my boys Eve to Adam and Awaken The Shadow. For more on Killcode, visit Killcode.net.
And finally, speaking of new music, my new buds from Major Crush have a new CD coming out in July called Trophy Kids. Major Crush is the band formerly known as Nasty Habit, and they’re using the site PledgeMusic for pre-orders of the CD, where fans can download the first single, “You Ain’t A Saint,” for free along with other bonus content. PledgeMusic is a crowdfunding site for musicians, where bands can offer merch and prizes to fans for purchasing their CDs or music early. If you’d like to pre-order Major Crush’s CD Trophy Kids before they release it in July, visit www.pledgemusic.com/majorcrush. For more on Major Crush, visit MajorCrushBand.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:
5/25—Killcode/Eve to Adam/Awaken the Shadow—Marlin Room at Webster Hall, NYC
5/25—Jersey Campfires Production Presents Triple Scoop/Lunatic Fringe/Stereo Jo/Rodent/Sinertia —Mexicali Live, Teaneck, NJ
5/27—That of a Lion/Buried Under Ruined Nations—Valley View Pub, West Milford, NJ
5/27—Grand Electric/Close The Circle/A Band In Ship/Before The Origin—Black Bear Bar, Brooklyn, NY
5/28—Dead Superstar/Scott Stapp—Revolution Bar and Music Hall, Amityville, NY
5/28—Skiver/Andy Black—Game Changer World, Freehold, NJ
6/3—Eternal Black/St. Bastard/Bowhead/Tarpit Boogie—Lucky 13 Saloon, Brooklyn, NY
6/4—Hatebreed/Negative Sky/Devildriver/Devil you know/Ashes of Your
Enemy/Scars of Envy—Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ
6/10—Without Reason—Butch Kowal’s Tavern, Rahway, NJ
6/10—The Grand Omega/White-Washed Walls/Midnight Fade/Bandita/Monitor—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
6/11—Bubba Grouch/The Gripes—Stanhope House, Stanhope, NJ
6/11—Sworn Enemy/Robots And Monsters/Fuck It…I Quit/Paralysis—Backroom Studios, Rockaway, NJ
6/11—Barren—The Cup Complex, Linden, NJ
6/17—Jersey Campfires Presents Arc’d Angel CD Release Party/Rahway/Empire Fallen/Drifting Figures/Collective Man/Prodigal Sons—Mexicali Live, Teaneck, NJ
6/18—The Dirty Pearls/Ten Ton Mojo/Black Satellite/Bobby Mahoney—The Bowery Ballroom, NYC
6/18—Mikell’s Plot/Cory Singer/Section 8/Paulus Hook, Charlie Mac—Brook Arts Center, Bound Brook, NJ
6/24—Among Us “Reunion show”/New Day Dawn/The Madeleine Haze!
