Patrons of Sweet

Yes, Cleveland does indeed “rock.” If there is one thing our rusty neighbors to the west do well, it’s export some of the finest and dirtiest garage rock around. Exploding Lies are no exception. Rip-roaring in every way, their songs burn slow with organ heavy, deep swamp-laden blues and explode into furious psych-garage barroom freakouts. Fans of Deep Purple, Junior Kimbrough, and The Black Keys take note…this is your show. Joining them will be the always grungy indie rockers, Patrons of Sweet. Heavy, angular and intense are all accurate terms in describing what they do. Think Jawbox on speed. In a time of year when everyone seems to be hibernating, local post-punk favorites, London Vs New York have actually come out of hiding to open the show and apologize for being gone for so long. Friday (Dec 10) is the day and Mohawk Place is the venue for this night of distorted debauchery. Doors are at 9pm and $5 gets you in. Don’t miss out, Buffalo will undoubtedly be feeling aftershocks from this rock-quake for weeks to come. —eric kendall

9pm. Mohawk Place, 47 E. Mohawk St. (465-2368 / www.themohawkplace.com). $5.



Read more: http://artvoice.com/issues/v9n49/syt#ixzz17iu266XD - Artvoice

WBNY Local Show Interview - 9/23/2010
Live radio interview with Greg Burt - WBNY Radio

WBNY Local Show Interview - 9/23/2010
Live radio interview with Greg Burt - WBNY Radio

There’s some school of no-doubt paranoid-delusional thought that implies that there is a little man/ morlock in the center of the Earth who operates a device which makes the world turn. If this man were to die the world would simply stop spinning and we’d all perish (or move to whichever side the sun was still shining). By that same logic I think that if Vic Lazar ever stopped writing songs (which I think is a scientific impossibility) music would cease to exist. In the 10 plus years I’ve seen this guy performing non-stop in one Buffalo-area band after another, as well as sometimes solo, he’s constantly got a vault full of music that continuously pours out of him like so much water from a natural spring. He’s got his own style, which certainly takes some melodic cues from J. Robbins, that shows up in every project he’s been in and Patrons Of Sweet is no exception. While this CD is fairly new I think they already stopped playing half the songs in lieu of a new batch already written since it’s release. What you’ll find here is great indie rock that leans into a bit of post-hardcore territory, if you’re definition of that includes a healthy dose of Rival Schools and a lot of mid-90’s Dischord Records output. The songs are ridiculously catchy and could easily pass for pop rock if us critic types who know everything ever didn’t spot all the neat little melodic angularities and clever beats, all the while getting bum-rushed by a thick rhythm section. Stuff like this is a no-brainer for smart people into good music, so wise up and stop looking into conspiracy theories. Just appreciate consistent creativity for what it is and check this band out. (Headless Actor Records, www.myspace.com/headlessactorrecords) - Hex Records

Full Disclosure: Patrons Of Sweet frontman Vic Lazar contributes and is a friend to this blog. Although Vic's input here has been limited lately, he has been associated with myself and silo3 for the past several years.

Vic Lazar has been one of the greatest local musicians for the past 15 years, at least. His roster of past and present projects could fill a festival roster twice over. From His epic singer/songwriter work as Vox Humana, to being one third of the post-punk prog legends Knife Crazy, to His timeless ambient-electro collab with Pam Swarts in VictoryBlackLightHoney.

Ahem, with that out of the way...

Patrons of Sweet is like a 48-oz. steak, cut straight from the cow and tossed on the coals of an open-pit fire. Charred on the outside and bloody within, the is nothing subtle going on here. At times, the new record Nothing Drastic-- like last years Go Whatevers!, can be a ham-fisted take on mid-90s college rock. Throughout much of the album, Lazar and company switch between two volumes: 8 and 11. With an emphasis on urgency, the songs never have a chance to breath as the band throws in a new riff, tempo change, or vocal line almost every four bars. There are virtually no intro passages, no instrumental sections, no interludes, no crescendos, and no codas. As a rule, most of Nothing Drastic rarely comes within a whiff of anything that could be described as a groove. One of the only exceptions can be found in the album's transcendent closer-- "Under Such Heavy Surveillance."

A lack of repetitive grooves runs counter-intuitive to what one might expect from a group heavily influenced by 90s rock. Laying down a groove is a tool that last decade's alt-rockers wielded masterfully. From Fugazi to My Bloody Valentine to the Pixies and Nirvana, these bands knew the value of letting their songs breath and bounce.

The 90s also saw the renaissance of original guitar playing and like so many other Vic Lazar records, Nothing Drastic excels as a guitar masterstroke. While not entirely technical, the album is chock-full of original and unexpected twists and turns of the guitar phrase. Nothing Drastic should be required listening for anyone cynical of our local talent.

Many of the songs on this new record are obtuse and multilayered, revealing more to the listener with each successive pass through. With that in mind, The Patrons are at their absolute best when unloading titanic hooks, as first evidenced in the somewhat poppier Go Whatevers! "There's No More Room in the Beehive" and "Almost Executable" are two songs on Nothing Drastic that showcase the new lineup, with drummer Dave Bordin and bass player Matt Lavin, in full pop-bombast. However, these moments are too few and far between and could be evidence the band is still better off basking in the sunlight rather than wallowing in the muck. - Silo3

Full Disclosure: Patrons Of Sweet frontman Vic Lazar contributes and is a friend to this blog. Although Vic's input here has been limited lately, he has been associated with myself and silo3 for the past several years.

Vic Lazar has been one of the greatest local musicians for the past 15 years, at least. His roster of past and present projects could fill a festival roster twice over. From His epic singer/songwriter work as Vox Humana, to being one third of the post-punk prog legends Knife Crazy, to His timeless ambient-electro collab with Pam Swarts in VictoryBlackLightHoney.

Ahem, with that out of the way...

Patrons of Sweet is like a 48-oz. steak, cut straight from the cow and tossed on the coals of an open-pit fire. Charred on the outside and bloody within, the is nothing subtle going on here. At times, the new record Nothing Drastic-- like last years Go Whatevers!, can be a ham-fisted take on mid-90s college rock. Throughout much of the album, Lazar and company switch between two volumes: 8 and 11. With an emphasis on urgency, the songs never have a chance to breath as the band throws in a new riff, tempo change, or vocal line almost every four bars. There are virtually no intro passages, no instrumental sections, no interludes, no crescendos, and no codas. As a rule, most of Nothing Drastic rarely comes within a whiff of anything that could be described as a groove. One of the only exceptions can be found in the album's transcendent closer-- "Under Such Heavy Surveillance."

A lack of repetitive grooves runs counter-intuitive to what one might expect from a group heavily influenced by 90s rock. Laying down a groove is a tool that last decade's alt-rockers wielded masterfully. From Fugazi to My Bloody Valentine to the Pixies and Nirvana, these bands knew the value of letting their songs breath and bounce.

The 90s also saw the renaissance of original guitar playing and like so many other Vic Lazar records, Nothing Drastic excels as a guitar masterstroke. While not entirely technical, the album is chock-full of original and unexpected twists and turns of the guitar phrase. Nothing Drastic should be required listening for anyone cynical of our local talent.

Many of the songs on this new record are obtuse and multilayered, revealing more to the listener with each successive pass through. With that in mind, The Patrons are at their absolute best when unloading titanic hooks, as first evidenced in the somewhat poppier Go Whatevers! "There's No More Room in the Beehive" and "Almost Executable" are two songs on Nothing Drastic that showcase the new lineup, with drummer Dave Bordin and bass player Matt Lavin, in full pop-bombast. However, these moments are too few and far between and could be evidence the band is still better off basking in the sunlight rather than wallowing in the muck. - Silo3