Aerocar Model Four

The first time I seen these young men play was at Club Genysys while working with Darwin Foster of Screemin Chix Productions. When they hit the stage, I was mezmorized. David Ryan De Vries vocals, Ryan Glays rip roaring guitar playing, Matt Snell bass playing and Kevin Swain drumming was just so…..right. It had been a long time since I seen a band who turned my head, but let me tell ya, these boys rocked my world! Not only are they talented, they are just about the nicest group of people I have met. Very approachable and I personally think one of the next biggest things to happen in Winnipeg. - Kristie Allen - Backstage Winnipeg.com

Ambitious, instrumentally sound and well-recorded. Heavy rock band Aerocar Model Four has all the right elements. - John Kendal

Just Good Crunchy Guitar-Heavy Metal. - Broose Tulloch

“It was a long time ago, in a far off galaxy,” jokes David De Vries, lead singer of Winnipeg art-metal quintet Aerocar Model Four, when asked how the band formed. “It was just [Dave and I],” says keyboardist Chad Hagen of the band’s formation nearly five years ago. De Vries explains, “We played football together, became friends, started listening to music… I heard Ozzy and got totally inspired. I bought a guitar, wanted to start a band, knowing absolutely nothing about music, and then…” <br>“We started finding people who could play as well as we could,” continues Hagen, who also had minimal knowledge of his instrument before getting together with De Vries. “People who played as well as we could,” De Vries laughs. “Nobody better. They couldn’t be better than us.”<br>After five years, a few line-up changes and a recent name change, De Vries and Hagen—along with guitarist Ryan Glays, bassist Jan Slavicek, and drummer Peter Haverstock—are preparing to independently release their full-length debut CD, Breaking Point. The band recorded the album during various points in time over the past two years with local engineer/producer Len “Analog” Milne at Bedside Studio, who was able to provide a level of production rarely heard on CDs by local bands. Many would probably label AMF’s music as “metal,” but they also incorporate a variety of other elements and influences into the mix, resulting in a sound that is all their own. Glays’ guitar playing ranges from Randy Rhodes-like virtuosity to the more experimental playing of guitarists such as Tom Morello. Slavicek’s intricate bass lines lock in well with the playing of Haverstock, whose reluctance to play a straight 4/4-rock beat brings originality to each song. Hagen’s keyboard playing adds another sonic layer, from the triplets of the CD’s opening track, to playing through a wah-pedal on the rocker “Runaway Train.” De Vries tops it all off with his intense vocal delivery, showing he is as comfortable screaming on a song like “Poor” as he is singing on a ballad like “Somewhere to Go.” <br>The lyrics on Breaking Point explore everything from self-doubt (“Dive”), sex (“White Dress Red”), hatred and fear (“Hate”), suicide (“Suicide Note”), failed relationships (“Only Stone”), to the afterlife (“Somewhere to Go”). In an age of manufactured angst, Aerocar Model Four seem genuinely angry. “We’re too poor to be manufactured,” laughs De Vries when asked about the dark themes explored on Breaking Point. Getting more serious, he explains, “It’s not like I’m just faking it. When I’m talking about having no money, I’m talking about [literally] having no money. When I’m talking about losing something and it hurting me in a certain way… I mean, a lot of my lyrics come from that, [from] having nothing. Having absolutely nothing.” Explains Hagen, “I think a lot of it is using anger almost [as] a coping mechanism. By expressing anger in our music and [exploring] these dark themes, it’s almost a way of getting it out of the way so we can be more positive in the rest of our everyday lives.” Adds De Vries, “I would never commit suicide. I’m not the kind of person who would do that. I’ll talk about it, sure, but I won’t do it. I never would.”<br>After two years spent recording and rehearsing, Aerocar Model Four are looking forward to getting out and playing live again. “We’ve been really trying to make things more abstract in rehearsal in order to become more creative with the live stuff. …We move around a lot, and we’re pretty intense. We try to move the audience as much as we possibly can, and I’m sure over the last—especially the last few shows—we’ve definitely moved the audience and caught their attention,” says De Vries. A show this past summer at the newly built Grand Moon Amphitheatre at Grand Beach saw De Vries climb fifteen feet above the crowd on a suspended tarp that was covering the stage. He explains, “We had started to get a reaction from a crowd that [during the other bands’ sets] had been dormant and dead. As soon as I felt we started to lose the crowd, I had to do something.” His solution was the Eddie Veddar-like stunt, which wasn’t without consequence. “We ended up scaring some people and [our set] got shut down early. That’s the whole thing, though, is we want people to remember [our] name, more than anything.”<br>In a pop culture dominated by instant celebrity, Aerocar Model Four knows that only a strong DIY ethic can ensure their success. “I’m not going to sit around at home, hoping and dreaming that some record label is going to sign the band. If you want to dream, go to bed,” De Vries states matter-of-factly. “We’re going to get out there, play shows, tour and promote this record. In the end, if we make enough money so that we can keep doing this for a living, or if we just make enough money to break even, I’ll be happy" - Aaron Epp - CMU

Aerocar Model Four is a hard-rocking quasi-metal band with a touch of nü-metal influences from Winnipeg. Breaking Point is their first full-length album - a dark, moody, introspective album that deals with themes such as failed relationships, thoughts on suicide, and the afterlife. The odd, and I suppose refreshing thing about this band is that it seems straightforward and unpretentious.

Says lead singer David Ryan De Vries, "I would never commit suicide. I’m not the kind of person who would do that. I’ll talk about it, sure, but I won’t do it. I never would." The problem is, that statement kind of takes away from the aura of a hard-rocking quasi-metal band. Jeez-louise. There used to be a time when bands sang about angel dust, sodomy, and Satanic worship because they actually did those things. Maybe the times are a-changing.
- Eric Warwaruk

With a name like Aerocar Model Four I was expecting some type of emo rubbish but I was pleasantly surprised that the band's second effort 'The Sweetest Lie' is a highly enjoyable heavy rock experience. Hardly the most prolific artists around, this Canadian four-piece released their first full-length studio album in late 2003. Five years later their second release finally emerges and it does make you wonder how creative artists, regardless of line up changes and other turmoil, can take five years to write fifty minutes of music. That's ten minutes of music a year. What the hell have these guys been doing all this time? This goes for all bands that take almost aeons to actually write anything not just Aerocar Model Four.

So, has the wait been worth it? Having never heard of the band until a couple of weeks ago I have to say I have no idea. But taken on face value this disc is instantly likable due to its infectious melodies and metal undertones. 'The Sweetest Lie' isn't metal but it does like to do border raids into the nu-metal shenanigans of the late nineties. Thankfully this album doesn't sound dated because of this point, instead it runs that line of accessible heavy rock without pandering to commercialism. It has a sense of grit where it's needed and avoids the obvious 'single' and the gooey ballad. A heavier Filter or Sinch springs to mind mixed with a little early Tool, along with the nu-metal big chords of course.

The biggest asset this band has is the vocals of David Ryan De Vries. To his credit he doesn't follow the tiresome trend of adding some screamo vocals to try and add some 'heaviness' to the proceedings. Instead, he brings extra melody to the songs by keeping his style clean, mid range and powerful adding a little grit here and there. 'Dive' is a good example of his vocal muscle using harmonies for extra dimension as well as all of the above. It's a good job he's in fine form because most of the riffing is chord based along with a little chugging with the lead guitar being almost a taboo subject (almost taboo because the odd solo does creep in here and there). As you can probably work out we're dealing with big sounding rock tunes that you can sing-a-long too within one or two listens, which is no bad thing.

There truly are some great pieces of work on 'The Sweetest Lie'. Opener 'That's What She said' and 'Alienate' are catchy as hell. They're familiar sounding but you're not sure where from. You know when you get that feeling you've heard the songs before but you can't work out where from and you never get to the bottom of it. That's the possible reaction when listening to these tunes. The album peaks at 'V' along with 'Breaking Point' the latter being the disc's heaviest most guitar driven track. Although the album peaks in the middle the standard of song-writing doesn't really dip and remains constant until the solid 'Wide Awake' at the end. In essence 'The Sweetest Lie' doesn't really contain any filler, ok maybe 'Use Me' needs a re-write because the line 'If I gave you my nose could you smell your shit' is utter drivel in any language.

Any fan of American radio rock could find new saviours in Aerocar Model Four because the band, although Canadian, would fit quite nicely into that niche. They're quite ear friendly but contain enough distortion to piss your parents off. For the rest of us who think 'Radio' is a dirty word will find a highly enjoyable modern rock album that could nicely split up the plethora of metal we subject ourselves to. Nice. - Room Thirteen - Where Music Rocks