LIFE AFTER ME EP REVIEW
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Nominated
Best Female Vocalist 2007 and 2008
Band of the Year 2008
Album of the Year 2008 (won)
...Nominated
Best Female Vocalist 2007 and 2008
Band of the Year 2008
Album of the Year 2008 (won)
"Alt Rock" Motif Magazine Music Awards
By Don DiMuccio August 8, 2007
There are some bands who employ every recording trick at their disposal to cover up for a lack of heart, soul, and
spirit. And you know something..... IT NEVER
SEEMS TO WORK! If anything, the sonic over-adornment only serves to accentuate an absence of substance. Nobody ever says "You know what makes that song great? The Gate Compressor Limiter they used!" Now listen up youngsters, it's time for Uncle Don's Rock & RoD Life Lesson 34. Ready? Let's begin. If you don't have substantial lyrics and a memorable melody, buying a 64-channel digital soundboard isn't gonna help. Did you write that down Kenny?
And that is why I have a great deal of respect for The Candace Brooks Band and their latest CD release "Life After Me". They use few bells & whistles, and even fewer prefabricated engineering chicanery. Some might even describe the overall vibe of the record as minimalist. Me, I describe it as pure, honest rock & roll. This youthful quartet is comprised of Allen Furtado (bass), Neal Christolini (guitar), Brian Deconteaux (drums), and the evocative, dread-locked Candace Brooks herself on lead vocals and guitars. Clearly, they have a collective musical understanding, and this vision is laid out quite effectively throughout the album's eight tracks.
From the first notes pouring out of the speakers, Candace and company spread out their unique blueprint for stripped-down rock with the kickoff track "Out of Your Mind". "I got your heart tied up, I got your soul locked down - Am I breaking your stride, as I spin you around — Are you out of your mind yet? ". As with many of the songs herein, Ms. Brooks' vocal delivery provides context for the lyrics that would otherwise be lost had someone else been singing. Her timbre is contradictory in many ways - sweet yet dirty - soft yet aggressive -immaculate yet lustful.
She's also easy on the eyes. But back to the music.
More contradictions are evident throughout another song "Jaded". "Why you gotta be so complicated? Why you gotta be so J@ing jaded? Why you gotta be so beautiful? " Yes, we all know by know how much I dig when chicks swear in song. That aside, Brook's vocal elocution takes a good song, and makes it much, much better.
I'm particularly fond of their use of a live track "Strategy". The song itself is not the strongest offering in the set. In fact, sound-wise the recording doesn't sit well while surrounded by the other studio tracks. But the charming aspect of its inclusion is that The Candace Brooks Band once again doesn't rely on tired worn-out concepts of what belongs and doesn't belong. One gets the feeling the band had something to say and chose that particular song to say it. Isn't that what rock & roll was supposed to be about in the first place?
The Candace Brooks Band is pure, unadulterated rock. Some classify them as alternative. If by alternative they mean in opposition to cliche, over-the-top, predictable, guitar-driven, hormone angst pabulum., then yes, firmly place them in the alternative category. Me, I describe it as pure, honest rock & roll.
The whole band is the star
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The whole band is the star
By GEORGE AUSTIN
As they sit around a big table for an interview with...The whole band is the star
By GEORGE AUSTIN
As they sit around a big table for an interview with a writer, Candace
Brooks just sits back and lets a lot of the other members of her band
do the talking. She's the lead singer and the band is named after her,
but she does not want the spotlight just shining on her. She wants to
give credit to everyone in the band for the exhilarating performances
that The Candace Brooks Band gives every night.
"My name is the band, but I like to give my fellas a voice," Brooks
said. "I let them talk over the mikes. I don't want the attention to
be on me.
The Candace Brooks Band has been getting some airplay on 94.1 WHJY
Radio in Providence with its upbeat, catchy song called "Beautiful
Deception" off its addictive "Life After Me" EP.
"It's almost kind of punky," said bassist Allan Furtado of the song.
"I would say that was our first true rock song."
Before this electric lineup was formed, Brooks was playing acoustic
guitar and singing some gigs. She had an electric guitar player with
her. Brooks has a brother who told Furtado he should stop by to see
her play at The Pulse in Providence. Furtado asked Brian Decoteaux to
come to the show with him. They liked what they saw and decided to
join the band. Allan stole Decoteaux's drums and sat in with Brooks at
a practice. Then he told her he didn't really play drums, but was a
bass player. They played with Brooks for about a year before the
electric guitar player was let go. That was when Neal Chistolini
joined the band to fill that spot. Brooks posted an ad on MySpace for
the spot in the band and Chistolini responded. Neal, who lived five
minutes down the street from Brooks, called and she said to come on
down for an audition. They gave him 10 songs to learn, from bands like
The Rolling Stones and Sublime, and told him to come back two days
later.
The current lineup has been together for a year. They rehearse in the
basement of the house where Brooks's mother lives.
"Basically, as a band, we have a really good thing going," Brooks
said. "We hang out, outside of the band. We're like best friends.
We're friends first and bandmates second. When you collaborate, that
helps to have that respect."
Before Chistolini joined the band, they were getting a few gigs here
and there. But after he joined the band, they started playing out
regularly at Providence metro clubs, such as Club Gallery and Mardi
Gras, and recorded an EP. The band plays both original music and cover
tunes. Brooks says the songs may be sad sometimes, but she is smiling
when she is singing them and the audience is tapping their feet.
"I want our original music to be something that people listen to and
they identify with," Brooks said. "We love shows when people are
dancing and moving. We just want to be a household name and for people
to like us for who we are."
Brooks writes the lyrics and melodies for the song with her acoustic
guitar and then the other members of the band transform them in rock
songs. Using the slogan "Life imitates art and art imitates life,"
Brooks writes about situations she experiences around her in her life.
She writes about matters of the heart and problems people experience.
There are a lot of relationship songs. The Candace Brooks Band is
working on some new material.
"Candace does a good job of seeing both sides of a complicated
situation and expressing that," Chistolini said. "It really cuts to
the heart if you listen to what she says. It's profound."
All of the members of the band live in Rhode Island. Brooks lives in
Johnston and is originally from Cranston, Furtado and Decoteaux, who
went to Warwick Veterans High School together, are from Warwick, and
Christolini lives in Providence. The band has planned a tour for this
August. They will start in Pennsylvania and work their way North
toward Maine for 16 days.
Brooks, who went to Cranston West High School, started playing guitar
when she was 15 years old.
"My brother brought home a guitar and told me not to touch it, so I
did," Brooks said.
Brooks took some guitar lessons and when she was 23 years old, started
to play at open mics.
Decoteaux started playing drums in the fifth grade. He was in school
bands growing up and when he was a senior high school, starting
getting into rock bands. Furtado and Decoteaux had a mutual friend who
played guitar. That friend had a girlfriend who played bass. The
friend stole his girlfriend's bass and gave it to Furtado to try. When they broke up, Furtado had
to get his own bass. Furtado and Decoteaux played in a band together
their senior year in high school and both have been in other bands as
sit ins.
Chistolini, who went to Westfield High School and studied psychology
and business at Providence College, started playing guitar around the
age of 13 years old. Before that time, he had played viola and French
horn. He played bass for a band called Kill, Switch and Guage and was
also in a motown band.
"That's how I got my style," Chistolini said. "I'm a rhythm first
player, as opposed to an electric lead player."
Furtado said people will try to pigeonhole what the band's music
sounds like because of its female singer. He said the band wants
people's opinions about its music.
Chistolini said the members of the band are all pretty versatile
musicians. He said their music is influenced by new wave, inde rock.
Furtado likes jam bands. Decoteaux likes classical and jazz bands.
Chistolini likes jazz and new wave.
"I listen to anything, as long as it has a good beat and a good
rhythm," Brooks said. "I just love music."
The influences of the band include Ben Folds Five, Muse, Lifehouse and
some British bands.
"I think, individually, we have all different tastes, as far as what
we listen to on the side," Brooks said. "We all have different
influences, but we play well together."
Brooks is a call counselor for AAA, Furtado is a tractor trailer
driver, Chistolini processes car loans and Decoteaux is a supervisor
at an inventory company and is a college student. Brooks said they
take their music very seriously. She said it is a "work first, play
later" approach. Brooks said the band is not aspiring to be on MTV.
Courtney Costa says she does not miss a show from The Candace Brooks Band.
"I'm a Fall River hip hop girl and I love her," Costa said of Brooks.
"Her music is sick. It makes you want to mosh.
"
The Chase Album Review
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The Candace Brooks Band returns with the follow-up to 2007’s Life After Me. Their latest self-produc...The Candace Brooks Band returns with the follow-up to 2007’s Life After Me. Their latest self-produced effort, The Chase is a clever mix of indie-rock combined with alt-pop character.
The album opens with the up tempo number “I’m Gonna Break Your Heart.” If you’ve never heard this band’s music before, this track provides the perfect first exposure. It’s a well-written tune that really conveys the energy this band produces in their live shows.
The next song, “Reign of My Heart,” shows the heavier side of the band’s music. The tracks opening chords echo the spirit of 70’s hard rock bands (strangely reminds me of Black Sabbath’s “Snowblind”). This grittier side of the band suits them well, especially Brooks’ raspy vocals, and it serves to really balance out the tone of this album.
Lyrically, the band uses matters of the heart as a common thread that runs though The Chase. One of the simplest and catchiest is the the lustful “Feel It.” I can already imagine a crowd singing along to the verses and chorus.
“Gone Missing”, another very strong track, closes out the album. At the very least, The Chase demonstrates just how much potential The Candace Brooks Band has to do great things. Their song-writing sense is sound, their skills are developed, and Brooks’ herself provides strong character with her unique vocal style… all these elements that together make this album one of the better independent releases I’ve heard in a while, and I can’t wait to hear what they have planned down the road.
Track Listing:
1. I’m Gonna Break Your Heart
2. Reign of My Heart
3. Feel It
4. Right Thru
5. Buried Alive
6. Whatever You Want (for right now)
7. Reckless
8. Gone Missing
