Gambiza

This month’s CD review is from the band Gambiza, featuring Berklee School of Music grads. Their newest CD is titled “Mr. Shiny Pants” and upon first listen, 2 major influences hit me right off the bat: Queen and Alice Cooper. There are unbelievable amounts of rock opera elements in the music and vocals.

The opening track, “Rock N Roll Star” is a humorous, Bohemian Rhapsody styled tune with mid tempos and full out rocking. The lyrics tell you a lot about this song…”Make me a rock star”…”get me some cheese”. The band seems to like mozzarella…always a good thing.

The song “Fishies Swim” starts off as a pretty lullaby before kicking into a majestic power ballad. The CD’s title track, “Mr. Shiny Pants“, begins as a piano ballad (I can hear some Amy Lee/Evanescence influence here) before the pace picks up. While listening to this batch of songs, I couldn’t help but picture this music as part of a lavish broadway musical. I can see why other reviews compare the band to the Rocky Horror genre. The band also gives fans a free song download of the song “Evil Man” via their website (gambiza.com).

My favorite track is the rock guitar driven “Insane Maniac“. While this music is not my cup of tea, the production is great, the performances are top-notch and if you’re into music in the styles I’ve mentioned in this review, you really should check these guys (and lady) out. - Rocker Dad

We use the word "show" a lot to mean that someone is going to be on a stage, playing music. They will probably be wearing jeans and a t-shirt and staring down at their effects pedals. Sure, there's music going on, but every so often comes a band that makes you re-assess the level of entertainment you want from a show. Rachel Gambiza (of the band Gambiza - they clearly had no choice but to hire her) promises tonight's show at Precinct will be just that, complete with cheese, shiny pants and bunny ears. Oh, and they play music too, and you know what, we dug it before and we still do. So you might as well.


Smash! Bang! Pow! “Super Baby Bunnies” opens in comic strip fashion, with the white space in between the panels being slashed through by the dry stabs of distortion, slashing through the page almost painfully, yet very effective in raising the ambient excitement levels. Because if you can’t get excited about Super Baby Bunnnies, then you really should think about sitting down and reappraising your life.


One person who is clearly excited at the premise is Rachel Gambiza. When you first hear Gambiza singing about super hero bunnies and cheese and whatnot, your first thought may be “What is this girl on?” but it shortly changes to “What is this girl on, and can she share it?” Gambiza (the person) leads Gambiza (the band) through the air with the greatest of ease, punching a fist into the air (that we have no doubt has some garish super-power ring on it) and champions the anthem of the super baby bunnies, bringing the drama with an operatic chorus that would have members of Queen, Helloween and other bands whose names end in the suffix -een blushing with maybe a tiny degree of envy, not just because of the shiny pants. But partly because of them.

The over-the-top action of “Super Baby Bunnies” is charming in a so-weird-I-am-intrigued way. Rachel Gambiza’s dynamic, personality-popping vocals captain the experience, as Gambiza alternately narrates, orates, and squeals her way through the track (especially the “action sequence” during the late guitar solo). Gambiza sounds like a champ throughout the whole thing, but never moreso than she does in the anthemic chorus, replete with minor-third harmonies, long, sustaining blasts on the guitar and lots of pink fuzzy bunny ears. Chances are, you will not be able to look away from this song for one reason or another, and that is the very thing that makes it a total prize. But you knew that.
- BostonBandCrush.org

We use the word "show" a lot to mean that someone is going to be on a stage, playing music. They will probably be wearing jeans and a t-shirt and staring down at their effects pedals. Sure, there's music going on, but every so often comes a band that makes you re-assess the level of entertainment you want from a show. Rachel Gambiza (of the band Gambiza - they clearly had no choice but to hire her) promises tonight's show at Precinct will be just that, complete with cheese, shiny pants and bunny ears. Oh, and they play music too, and you know what, we dug it before and we still do. So you might as well.


Smash! Bang! Pow! “Super Baby Bunnies” opens in comic strip fashion, with the white space in between the panels being slashed through by the dry stabs of distortion, slashing through the page almost painfully, yet very effective in raising the ambient excitement levels. Because if you can’t get excited about Super Baby Bunnnies, then you really should think about sitting down and reappraising your life.


One person who is clearly excited at the premise is Rachel Gambiza. When you first hear Gambiza singing about super hero bunnies and cheese and whatnot, your first thought may be “What is this girl on?” but it shortly changes to “What is this girl on, and can she share it?” Gambiza (the person) leads Gambiza (the band) through the air with the greatest of ease, punching a fist into the air (that we have no doubt has some garish super-power ring on it) and champions the anthem of the super baby bunnies, bringing the drama with an operatic chorus that would have members of Queen, Helloween and other bands whose names end in the suffix -een blushing with maybe a tiny degree of envy, not just because of the shiny pants. But partly because of them.

The over-the-top action of “Super Baby Bunnies” is charming in a so-weird-I-am-intrigued way. Rachel Gambiza’s dynamic, personality-popping vocals captain the experience, as Gambiza alternately narrates, orates, and squeals her way through the track (especially the “action sequence” during the late guitar solo). Gambiza sounds like a champ throughout the whole thing, but never more so than she does in the anthemic chorus, replete with minor-third harmonies, long, sustaining blasts on the guitar and lots of pink fuzzy bunny ears. Chances are, you will not be able to look away from this song for one reason or another, and that is the very thing that makes it a total prize. But you knew that.
- bostonbandcrush.org - July 11, 2011

Don’t go to just ANY show this weekend. If your normal everyday “show” is about as exciting as An Inconvenient Truth, then Gambiza’s show is going to be like Moulin Rouge. Gambiza is promising several things. They promise new theatrical elements. I don’t know what their old ones were, but these ones will be new. But their biggest promise is perhaps that of free bunny ears for everyone in attendance. How are they doing this? Why are they doing this? Show up at Copperfield's on Saturday night and find out. You’ll also get a free copy of their record “Mr. Shiny Pants,” and I get Rachel Gambiza will be wearing shiny pants. It’s just a hunch.

Spoiler Alert: I have decided that I like Gambiza. And it’s not because I have enjoyed, over the past week,shouting out “Gambiza!” like one of my old Italian uncles. It sounds like it might be kind of a curse, but it’s also the surname of frontlady of all frontladies Rachel Gambiza. Gambiza puts on her shiny pants, grabs the microphone and starts lighting fireworks almost immediately. Featuring a full and unabashed embrace of the theatrics, operatics and vocal acrobatics, Gamibza puts on a show of shows, generally making the rest of the world look silly.

Gambiza clearly doesn’t care how she looks in this track, and as a result, she looks like a champ. To put it plainly, “Rock N Roll Star” sounds like Freddy Mercury’s little sister hijacked a truck full of Amped and then kidnapped the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Her demands include being made into a rock n roll star, or at least “some cheese.” There should not be a dry eye in the house, whether they come from those in on the joke, or just overly emotional members of the American Dairy Association, overcome with Gambiza’s repeated references to cheese.

“Rock N Roll Star” shines very, very brightly. While some may feel overwhelmed by its glow, others may choose to simply lie back and drink in the performance of vocalist Rachel Gambiza. She luxuriates in the melody, knowingly and ironically basking in her own self-proclaimed greatness. The thing about “Rock N Roll Star” is not the amount of brilliance it produces, it is the fact that nothing is washed away in the brilliance. Gambiza’s voice rises above everything, outshining the sun and anything else in its path. “Rock N Roll Star” plays like a one-act, one-song musical that leaves the audience feeling alternately inspired and exhausted, but ultimately satisfied that they have just seen a capital-S Show.

C.D. Di Guardia - bostonbandcrush.org - Feb. 17, 2011

'There was absolutely no way to know I’d fall in love with songs such as the blistering “All the Mad Men.” Same goes for the quirky and operatically offbeat Rachel Gambiza’s songs such as “Mr. Shiny Pants.”'

- Worcester Telegram - Dec 30, 2010

This band is soooo wild. (Gambiza) played here (Lucky Dog Music Hall) on a Wed not too long ago and the entire audience watched with mouths agape. It's an INCREDIBLE show.
Check them out. - Worcester Site - Godin

Award winning Indie 104 - iRADIO LA has added 'Super Baby Bunnies' to their rotation starting 12/06//2010. - Indie 104

"Everything you need to know about Rachel Gambiza is revealed in her song “Rock ’n’ Roll Star,” when she sings “a record deal and some cheese would go quite well with crackers.” With her obvious technical skill in classical and heavy metal vocal stylings, and her devious embrace of the absurd and melodramatic, it’s as though Gambiza were the unholy offspring of Kurt Weill and Freddie Mercury. When you listen to her sing a song such as “Mr. Shiny Pants,” it becomes clear that trying to decide whether she’s a lunatic genius or thoroughly engaged in a joke the rest of us might never get is an entirely pointless endeavor. It’s quite clear she’s both, and thank goodness for that. " - Worcester Telegram - Victor D. Infante

So what do you get when you cross cheese, shiny pants and Super Baby Bunnies? No idea? Me neither. Wait, I do, it's Gambiza! A theatrical quartet that dons bunny ears, throws out slices of cheese, and generally fills the room with epic music, these guys don't command respect, they rip it out of you! Frontwoman Rachel Gambiza is barely contained when she takes the stage. Forget mournful tunes about loves lost, these guys are rocking out with super-powered rabbits! Doesn't get any better! - Citywide Blackout

"We like your music" said Brian Bell. Once the mastering for 'Mr. Shiny Pants' has concluded, airplay will commence for Rachel Gambiza's songs about a collection of colorful characters - Sept. 14, 2010 - WomensRadio.com - Brian Bell, Director of Music and Talent

Max Bowen's interview with Rachel Gambiza airs Sept. 16, 2010 at 10pm on his popular internet radio show 'Citywide Blackout' on CyberStationUSA.com. They will be talking about the soon-to-be released first album from Gambiza, 'Mr. Shiny Pants' and will play 3 tracks. Rachel will discuss her theatrical vision and the unique characters that inhabit the release. If you can't catch it tonight, it will be on Max's archives for the next 2 weeks.
- CyberStationUSA.com

"... we dig your sound and vision..." - Harper's Ferry

"Your music has great value, we think you are awesome..." - MusikReviews.com

At the conclusion of 9 days of national voting, Gambiza was in 5th place out of more than 1200 bands. - Virgin Mobile FreeFest

Bexywoodland - historian, obstetrician, rap fan

"Its like medieval birthing noises" - VirginMobile FreeFest

"Rachel has always been very kind to us little fishies. She even wrote a song about us and what we do all day. We like her voice and her fish food." the little fishies - Ichthyology Weekly

"We were pleased to hear Rachel had written a new song demanding more cheese. However, after listening to the lyrics, we are somewhat disappointed she has such a dim view of Swiss, one of our best selling varieties. Rachel, we are looking forward to hearing Gambiza when you get to Wisconsin." - American Cheese Society

"We were glad to discover that Rachel is addressing the heartbreak of shiny men's pants in a song on her upcoming release, "Mr. Shiny Pants". We would like to point out that proper care of your pants with your certified dry cleaner can avoid the embarrassment of shiny pants. We saw Gambiza's show at a drag queen club and must point out how very entertaining they were." - National Association of Dry Cleaners

"The cat isn't used to hearing that kind of music in the house." - Mrs. Gambiza

"Don't bother me now - I'm busy" - Gregg Geller - Boston Record / American

"(Gambiza) Sounds entirely unlike a brick hitting a wall" - Johan Rorback - The Onion