abracadaver

In late 2002, after several years of sharing guitar and vocal duties in Dayton’s mighty Ohio Casket, Kevin Passmore decided to revisit his first love – the piano – and began churning out pop songs inspired equally by his hometown and Randy Newman.  It wasn’t long before he was joined by fellow Daytonians and former Casket members Steve Bright (A Ten O’clock Scholar, and The Dirty Walk) on bass, and Nick Morano (The Esoterics, and Freshmen Killday w/ Passmore) on drums.  The resulting power trio, Abracadaver, is equal parts sing along pop and hair-raising Dayton rock . . . and you can dance to it.

A typical performance is ninety minutes long and always after midnight.  Some of their large and devoted following dance in couples, others sing along and pump their fists, and everyone screams their heads off.  They are from Dayton after all.

Their raucous and moving performances group them with fellow Dayton musicians and friends from Guided By Voices, Shesus, The Breeders, and Brainiac.  Passmore’s lyrics, sometimes crooned, sometimes bellowed, and always accompanied by Morano’s boisterous harmonizing, portray life in a modern, middle-sized river town on the edge of Appalachia.  When Bright adds the thunder and lightning the bottom drops out and – be it sweat, tears, or somebody’s beer – everybody’s getting wet.