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This Band's Sound is Pure Genius
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The Soupbone Throne certainly knows how to entertain listeners, with a quirky, acoustic bent that's... The Soupbone Throne certainly knows how to entertain listeners, with a quirky, acoustic bent that's propelled by lead singer Coby Dodd's deep, throaty vocals and peculiar, thought evoking lyrics. Punching out painted lines brilliantly reminiscent of XTC's Andy Partridge, Dodds' commanding, emotive demeanor and instinctive diction resembles a quirky melancholy and uneveness that works amazingly well within the context of the songs.
All the while, brother Cary [Dodd] is flitting in and out of the arrangements with bursts of acoustic guitar, detailing each number like a chrome emblem on a fine automobile. The chords have all been played before...it's just the way that Cary plays them that makes these songs vibrate with energy. Hitch the percussive backbone of bassist Adam Horr [cool name] and drummer/percussionist Travis Barton to the rest of the convoy, and you've got one interesting concoction of musical blathering indeed.
Raw, yet resonant and engaging, the simplicity of this band's sound is pure genius. No one members talent screams out, but rather, this quietly efficient collective hones a groove and vibe that's so captivating, it's quite simply undeniable. Songs worthy of radio airplay over and over and over again include the tunes "OnThe Wall", "Breathing Holes", "Therapy", the jangling "Something Simple", and the groove heavy "Sera Says".
Oozing with natural talent and modest originality, it won't take long for The Soupbone Throne's vibe and songs to infiltrate listeners outside of their New Hampshire coastline base. Good Stuff!!!
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The Craziness Just Makes Sense-9 1/2 Stars
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The Soupbone Throne are just as strange as their name. A four piece band with bass, drums, one acou... The Soupbone Throne are just as strange as their name. A four piece band with bass, drums, one acoustic guitar, and vocals, the band manages to fill the space quite nicely. The quick fingers and slap of bassist Adam Horr meshes with Travis Barton's drums to make a solid groove. Cary Dodd's acoustic style is how I would imagine Flea would play guitar: lots of triads and quick staccato bursts, filled in when necessary by full chords and rhythms.
But standing well out in front, both in the CD mix and at live shows, are the vocals of Cary's brother, Coby Dodd. With a delivery akin to Pink Floyd, and words all his own, Dodds' voice rises and falls in hypnotic melodies. There isn't a huge range there, but he makes up for it with a kind -of -crazy vibe like Mr. Bungle on sedation. And the words! "I've got a gun, I've got you on my mind/ I'd never hurt you, but a bullet won't mind" from 'Death March' or these from 'Something Simple', "It's been lonely, but I haven't been alone/ Oh how the changes all unfold/ I see your hair has lost its gold", or in 'Sera Says'. which has received a fair amount of airplay, "Sera says she watched me when I sleep, because it's when I listen/ and the pill keeps me down when she's shakin' the bed, and it's so addictive/ Srea says she can't stand the way I live".
The Soupbone Throne hails from Somersworth, NH, and have a decided New England style. With lyrics about drinking their coffee black, cracked windshields, and changes in the seasons, the band exudes small town life, and their music is the quiet but disturbing sound of people trying to break free, without making fools of themselves. There is a lot here to like, and it grows on you as you listen-and get a little deeper into the head of The Soupbone Throne. The craziness just makes sense. Is that bad?
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Dark, Neurotic & Catchy
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Soupbone Throne's first album full of dark, neurotic, catchy anthems ...Soupbone Throne's first album full of dark, neurotic, catchy anthems 11/3/04
By Jamie Perkins
spotlight@seacoastonline.com
I’m not really sure what a soupbone throne is. The term kind of makes me think of Colonel Kurtz in "Heart of Darkness," mad with power and pain and lost in his own empirical empire. It also harkens scenes from Indiana Jones and the "Temple of Doom," where they eat baby snakes and monkey brains and that psycho priest rips the hearts out of people’s chests. I assume I make these connections because these were men who took what little they could scrounge, out of sustenance or faith or sanity, and then made it into their own little righteous domain.
And that, essentially, is what the band of the same name has done. The Soupbone Throne, a four piece that’s been kicking around the Seacoast for a few tireless years now, is taking very little and making a little musical monarchy out of it. Their eponymous debut album is full of dark, neurotic, catchy little anthems with bare-bones instrumentation and stormy subject matter. With just an acoustic guitar, bass, drums and vocals (played by Cary Dodd, Adam Horr, Travis Barton and Coby Dodd respectively), these guys are making a dark kind of coffeehouse rock, a strangely unique sound that seems like what a Sap-era Alice In Chains would be doing had they gone on a serious Tom Jones bender. With the guitar supplying layering and mood, the songs are driven by tasty bass licks and solid, rhythmic drumming. Meanwhile, vocalist Coby Dodd is a true presence, his voice a low, creeping specter of infectious melodies, like Glenn Danzig trying to sound like that big scary dude from Type O Negative.
There are few overdubs on the album, which is overall a crisp, competent recording by Thundering Sky guru Chris Magruder, except for the final track, "Sera Says," which was recorded by New England Institute of Art instructor Pete Peloquin. This particular track also includes an electric guitar track by onetime member Jim Callery; the rest of the album is so stark in its instrumentation that the electric guitar sounds radical by comparison. But The Soupbone Throne goes a long way on their stark instrumentation, making excellent use of dynamics and varying moods to sustain what could have been a thin sound. Though the goth-tinged funk folk found on the strongest tracks ("Cancer," "Snatching Crumbs," "Manifesto," and "Caution," for instance) is undeniably successful, I think the band would be smart to keep experimenting with the perversely pop sound they seem to have buried at the end of the album with the much happier sounding tracks "Therapy" and "Something Simple." These tracks reveal an experimentalism that shows the true potential of diversity found within this project. The overall success of this album, however, points to a great future for this foursome. With their unique sound and a knack for writing irresistibly catchy (and simultaneously dark) melodies, The Soupbone Throne have officially started to build their kingdom, misanthropic and dark as it may be. And hey, it’s nice to find a horror that even Colonel Kurtz could appreciate.
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Clean, Raw & Powerful
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SHOWCASE MAGAZINE review of “The Soupbone Throne”
By MARTIN ENGLAND
Showcase Correspondent
Th...SHOWCASE MAGAZINE review of “The Soupbone Throne”
By MARTIN ENGLAND
Showcase Correspondent
The Soupbone Throne’s self-titled debut is a category-defying,
risk-taking endeavor sure to spot this Seacoast quartet squarely
among the ranks of local giants.
They are a clean, raw and powerful lot, delivering emotionally
charged, acoustic-driven rock with lyrical overtones that seem to
come from a tortured place deep within the roots of the soul.
Soupbone is made up of Adam Horr (bass), Travis Barton (drums), Cary Dodd (acoustic guitar) and brother Coby Dodd (lead vocals). The band started in 1997, but splintered because of military tours and gigs with other bands. Thankfully, they regrouped to produce one of the most original local records in recent memory.
The formula is simple: contagious rhythms, lush arrangements and a voice that seems to come from earth’s center. This straightforward blueprint allows the songs to breathe; they are not suffocated beneath multiple layers of instrumentation. This, in turn, allows for Coby’s voice to hover over the arrangements like morning fog over water.
Soupbone also uses silence as a weapon on many tracks — tiny increments of hesitation that carry weight. Perhaps these elements come from working with Thundering Sky’s Chris Magruder, who has an ear for such things, or maybe the band’s got intellect to match their talent. Whatever the case, the end result is deeply effective.
The musicianship here is top-notch. Coby’s voice is like heat-etched whorls emanating from pavement in summer (dense, warm and round), a force that penetrates through bone and tissue alike. He sounds a little like Brad Roberts of Crash Test Dummies, but with a more tormented, affected delivery.
On guitar, Cary seems a quick study of R.E.M’s Peter Buck or perhaps The Smiths’ Johnny Marr, a player who chooses simple, but effective passages instead of exhaustive solos. In many bands, drums and bass supply the foundation, and while that is true with Soupbone, Cary’s acoustic intertwines with the rhythm section like a vine sprawling through the branches of a tree.
Barton is Soupbone’s secret weapon, perhaps the most understated but openly admired drummer on the Seacoast music scene. He knows when to pull back during the quietest moments, and subsequently, when to drop the hammer when the song calls for thunder. Horr focuses as much on melody as groove, threading deep hooks through every song. Barton and Horr have played together for years, and it’s obvious by the concrete they supply.
Soupbone’s influences are nearly impossible to tag, a band seemingly struck solely by their surroundings. To gauge their sound, you’d have to start with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, perhaps throw in a little Rusted Root mixed with Alice in Chains, and you’d be on the right track. Sort of.
The songs on Soupbone’s debut are crawling tarantulas, haunting and unignorable in presence, memorable in form. Their unnerving honesty and close-to-home subject matter will make you squirm with uneasiness (a good squirmy), each a mini film which perfectly captures a separate sliver of the human condition. Many have a slight Spanish flavor, with bullwhip acoustic rhythms rectifying images of dusty streets and late-afternoon sunlight on adobe buildings.
Coby’s words sound unforced and natural, like they’re being read from some ancient script. His lyrics are old-soul, possessing the wisdom and experience of a man twice his age.
For example, "Sera Says" (Track 11) is an underachiever’s anthem, a character kept down by his surroundings. It speaks of a soul with unbridled potential, who has no avenues to channel his assets, and whose past anchors him to the river’s bottom. "Sera" is a true testament to Coby’s ability to create unforgettable characters. Perhaps most of these characters are carved from autobiographical veins, for it’s tough to write this deeply without firsthand subject knowledge (sort of like someone trying to write a book about ’Nam who wasn’t actually there).
Other examples of his mastery exist on "Death March" (venomous in its dark exploration of codependency) and "On the Wall" (which smells of the gallows and rolls like a sailor’s song).
Collectively, the songs reek of purpose, brim with promise and are extensions of the four-headed monster that is The Soupbone Throne. Long live The Bone.
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"...Expect Big Things From This Band"
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A Band Built by Poverty
Soupbone stayed acoustic because it was broke.
Lack of money can be a ...A Band Built by Poverty
Soupbone stayed acoustic because it was broke.
Lack of money can be a blessing and in the case of The Soupbone Throne, flirting with poverty has put them in a musical class of their own.
“We don’t have any money to buy electric guitars so we used the excuse that we wanted to sound different,” said front man Coby Dodd.
The Soupbone Throne is made up of a bass, acoustic guitar, three-piece drum kit and Dodd’s haunting baritone voice.
Dodd’s vocals plunge to depths not heard since Brad Roberts of Crash Test Dummies. Yet he’s capable of flying with high notes as well, as is evident in “Death March,” off the band’s self-titled debut album.
The combination of Dodd’s vocals and the dark yet energetic tone of Soupbone Throne’s music has created an album packed with songs you might hear on the Desperado soundtrack, or with Rusted Root.
Dodd’s lyrics often match the dark tone of the music.
“I think we just play to relate to other people,” Dodd said. “People tend to hang on to the negative things that they deal with.”
Yet, somehow, the darkness of minor chords matched with redemption-laced lyrics doesn’t dampen the mood of Soupbone Throne. In fact, you might catch yourself swaying to the music, smiling and laughing, before you even realize you’re listening to a song titled “Cancer.”
Soupbone Throne joined hands three years ago, after Dodd and his brother Cary finished their military duties.
Coby spent 90 days in the desert of Afghanistan, where he took advantage of the solitude.
“It just gives you all the time in the world to think,” Dodd said. “Most of the songs I have I’ve already written in the desert.”
When he returned home, with lyrics in hand, Dodd, his brother, Travis Barton and Adam Horr dedicated themselves to creating an album.
They released Soupbone Throne in July of 2004.
The quartet is in the studio now, finishing up their sophomore effort, Sale of the Century, due out this fall.
One difference the band sees in making their second album is the amount of time they’re putting into the songwriting process.
“I guess we’re actually trying,” Dodd said.
Actually trying is an interesting comment to make, because if Soupbone Throne is the result of a lackluster effort, expect big things from this band.
Their debut album is, overall, a successful project. The album art, illustrated by Erick Lynch, is unique and intriguing. The songs found on the disc are addicting. Dodd’ ability to vocally keep up with the rhythm of his bandmates, while maintaining his unique tone, makes this album a gem. The opening track, “Cancer,” will pull you in before you even have a chance to think twice. 3 and ½ stars.
By Richie Victorino
Hippo Press
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These Guys are Great! For Real!
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Killer packaging for the CD! I was afraid to open it and listen! Generally, with packaging this prof...Killer packaging for the CD! I was afraid to open it and listen! Generally, with packaging this professional for a local band, it’s going to either TOTALLY RAWK or TOTALLY SUCK; usually the latter! But, after procrastinating long enough, I picked it up and had to put it into my CD player…. WOW! These guys are GREAT! For real!
Powerful, acoustic driven rock with an incredible vibe; these guys are awesome musicians and write great lyrics. For example, “Death March,” their 4th track on the CD is, well, remarkable! With lyrics like “I’ve got a gun, I’ve got you on my mind. I’d never hurt you, but a bullet wouldn’t mind.” The feeling behind this song is unimaginable! You HAVE TO hear it! Like a modern day Bob Seger collaborating with Alice in Chains.
It is obvious these are well seasoned musicians. Great rock material performed acoustically without loosing any of the feel, power or emotion you usually find with an electrified band. This entire release is chalk full of one catchy anthem after another; some dark in nature with others more upbeat. However, whatever story The Soupbone Throne is telling with their song, you are entranced and you easily become the song.
In their very professional press kit, I was reading over other reviews and I just don’t know what to say that hasn’t already been said. The Soupbone Throne seem to be developing their own little kingdom here in the Seacoast area with radio airplay, gigs throughout the area, regular appearances on WHEB’s “Doc on the Deck” concert series, and the development of a very large and loyal fan base.
There are eleven (11) totally irresistible tracks of well written, well performed and impeccably recorded and produced music. This is very interesting and entertaining through and through. I feel everyone should at least have a listen if not add The Soupbone Throne’s music to your CD collection!
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Music4Life's Hot List
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The Soupbone Throne is a Northeastern band defying categorization with an interesting blend of influ...The Soupbone Throne is a Northeastern band defying categorization with an interesting blend of influences and a style all their own. You can check out three free MP3 downloads here. Don't miss Music 4 Life's favorite "Natural Born Killer."
'The Next Big Thing'
Alice In Chains meets the Crash Test Dummies. The result is a powerful, driving, and sometimes disturbing sound that will have your toes tapping and your brain engaged. Their infectious grooves and haunting lyrics are begging to be heard.
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Great Song Writing & Funky Grooves - Live Review
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Five Dollars to see [band name withheld] is worth every penny, but add in The Soupbone Throne and yo...Five Dollars to see [band name withheld] is worth every penny, but add in The Soupbone Throne and you’re getting a steal. Opening act The Soupbone Throne is touring around the Northeast in support of their Self-titled debut on Transit Music Group (Indie Label).This Acoustic Rock act will drag you in with their great song writing and funky grooves. This band is very well rounded. Each member is remarkably skilled at their instrument. Lead vocalist Coby Dodd has a unique voice and a great ability to write lyrics. Bassist Adam Horr’s Slap-pop style was some of the best I’ve seen. Guitarist Cary Dodd harmonizes excellent with his brother Coby and plays his acoustic guitar with surgical precision. Drummer Travis Burton keeps the train rolling down the track song after song. If you’re a true Lover of great melodies, harmonies and tons of funky grooves to make you move, The Soupbone Throne is the band for you. Check them out live you won’t be disappointed.
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Sinister And Inviting
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The Soupbone Throne
November 9, 2005
“The Soupbone Throne”
Travis Barton–percus... The Soupbone Throne
November 9, 2005
“The Soupbone Throne”
Travis Barton–percussion
Adam Horr–bass
Cary Dodd–guitar
Coby Dodd–vocals
www.thesoupbonethrone.com
The Soupbone Throne lists both Leonard Cohen and Alice in Chains among their influences, but it makes sense—their dark, lyrical, acoustic sound is both sinister and inviting.
It’s tempting to classify them as a hard rock band, but there’s no thrashing or screaming here. Instead, Coby Dodd’s low, powerful voice (Scott Weiland meets Scott Stapp) is the centerpiece, and the band provides a disciplined and understated musical backdrop while maintaining a muscular sound that is indeed sure to please the hard rock crowd.
Based in Somersworth, The Soupbone Throne has been stalking the Seacoast scene for close to eight years, with hiatuses as two of the band’s members served in the military. It’s only been during the last two years that vocalist Coby Dodd, guitarist Carey Dodd, bassist Adam Horr and drummer Travis Barton have been playing together regularly. In December 2004 they released their first self-titled album, and in August 2005 they debuted a music video for their single “Scrape.” Now, in addition to the heavy local gigging schedule they keep, the band has started branching out, with dates in New York City and Mass., among other locales.
Perhaps lead singer Coby Dodd describes the band’s music best on the track “On the Wall,” when he sings “itching creeping shadows on the wall / that’s my inside.” But for all the dark, uneasy moods that The Soupbone Throne stirs up, they’re still a pop band at heart, their songs so full of catchy hooks that you’ll keep humming along after the music ends.
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Great Energy...Great Vibe! - Live Review
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THE SOUPBONE THRONE, [Band name withheld]
Raxx, Manchester, NH
1/21/05
It's just too cold a n...THE SOUPBONE THRONE, [Band name withheld]
Raxx, Manchester, NH
1/21/05
It's just too cold a night to be out. Especially in sleepy Manchester, when you're used to Cambridge on a Friday night. Why am I here? Oh yes, I remember. I need to see The Soupbone Throne, whose album I originally said was excellent. The live showing, I was promised, really shows the band the way they should be heard. Fair enough. Raxx is a shithole pool hall, a bad set from The Color of Money. Stage on one end near the window. [Name withheld] is on first, a trio, noisy, lifeless, attempting to rock in this venue never designed for music. Enough of that, glad I popped that kava pill before coming here. Then the Throne hit the stage, and goddam! They really come through, shitty place and everything. Great energy, the mysterious thinness on their album gone in this live context, and great vibe from the musicians, who don't let the dingy room throw them from delivering. Exit Mike from said venue, smiling. (Mike Loce)
THE NOISE MAGAZINE
BOSTON, MA
MARCH 2005
supersonic
