INTERFUSE

Making Tracks
Interfuse's full-length debut makes art rock menacing again.
By Jason Bracelin
Article Published Aug 3, 2005

Lisa Cardarelli has a theory about a new kind of music.

"Remember those books, the Choose Your Own Adventure books?" the Interfuse singer-bassist asks between sips of whiskey at Akron's Lime Spider. "We should make a CD that's a choose-your-own-ending-to-the-song CD. You know, pick track three if you want the angry ending, pick B if you want the mysterious ending. And then everyone can tailor their own songs."

She laughs, fixes us with a mock glare, and says, "Don't steal that one."

It's too late for that. Interfuse's hard-to-pin-down sound already boasts as many twists and turns as the books Cardarelli mentions. On the group's recently released full-length debut, Closed Doors Open Tracks, the bandmates mingle sardonic punk rock with impressionistic bursts of noise that leave ears buzzing like a wasp's nest. Like a mohawk spray-painted on the "Mona Lisa," loud blasts of metallic feedback subvert heady art rock.

"I wanted us to be able to fit in at a metal show, and at the same time, I wanted us to be able to fit in at an art gallery," says guitarist Mike Oravec, who wields his six-string like a broadsword. "We've done both."

And they've done it with a knowing wink. On wax, Interfuse's brittle, business-minded sound is leavened by a snarky sense of humor manifested in song titles like "My . . . That's a Very Nice Handbag" and "So Jesus Walks Into a Bar."

In person, the bandmates -- rounded out by singer-guitarist Sean Dujuricic and drummer Nick Cardarelli, Lisa's husband -- are just as playful. Their demeanor, as they have their drinks at the Lime Spider, suits the club's fun, quirky decor, which features, among other things, a plastic monkey in a bowling pose. They goof on each other's drinking habits, driving skills, and listening preferences with a laserlike wit that would piss off all but the tightest of friends.

"We all think the same irreverent things are funny that would not be funny to anyone else at all," says Lisa, a lively brunette who teaches English and journalism at Ravenna High School. "Hang with us one night, and you'll either laugh really hard, or you'll just leave. There's really no middle ground."

Biting humor has been a trademark of Akron bands since the late '70s, when acts like Devo, Tin Huey, and the Rubber City Rebels all had a pronounced satirical side. Nick argues that it's a product of their surroundings.

"If on a national level, Cleveland is a big joke," he begins, "then Akron's like --

"-- an even bigger joke," Lisa says, finishing the thought. "And what else can you do but laugh? I love it here, though."

Clearly, they're comfortable around each other, most likely because the bandmates have known each another for so long. Nick, Oravec, and Dujuricic all attended Green High School together, and the latter two have played in bands together since their teens.

It was when their previous band, Destro, was playing a Kent gig that Interfuse first came together. With the Cardarellis in the audience, Destro imploded onstage. The band broke up soon thereafter.

After the show, Oravec and Dujuricic hung out with the Cardarellis for the rest of the night, and soon they were all jamming together in Dujuricic's grandmother's basement.

With coed vocals and a squall of dissonant guitars, the group immediately drew comparisons to one of New York's seminal art-rock troupes -- which wasn't a coincidence.

"When I was in the eighth or ninth grade -- about the time I got my first guitar -- I was completely obsessed with Sonic Youth," Oravec says. "I knew how to play my guitar with drumsticks and screwdrivers before I could tune it."

The band dropped a bruising self-titled EP in 2001, a disc with Excedrin written all over it, and toured with Disengage a few years later. Still, the band had to weather several false starts when it came time to record its full-length debut.

"We had recorded so many different times that I can't even count how many CDs we have at our house," Lisa says. "It was always other people helping us out, and finally I think we just got tired of nothing happening with those CDs, and we just decided that if we want this to be bigger than just being a local band that plays the local circuit, we need to do something on our own."

And so the band hit the studio last August to produce Closed Doors, a big step forward for its sound.

The disc is a sharp mix of stabbing riffs and vocals that are alternately pretty and pained. Dujuricic's voice sounds strained, as does his patience, his guitar squirming and wriggling like a pit bull trying to get free of its leash. Dujuricic's bloodletting is balanced by Lisa's understated singing, which is closer to a sigh than a scream. The songs have a bipolar feel. Humor turns to anger with the stroke of a six-string.

"People aren't pissed about anything anymore," Lisa says, furrowing her brow as if scolding one of her students. "People are very go-with-the-flow, and I think that's what a lot of this town and midwestern culture is about. And so I think there's frustration that stems from that and comes out in our music."

Yet the group's repertoire remains catchy and concise. Too many acts of Interfuse's ilk get lost in their own sound, but this band never strays far from an explosive refrain. The tunes are intricate but immediate, their nuances balanced by raw power. It's music that demands a reaction.

"I think we've kind of rooted out the apathetic responses," Lisa says, sounding thoroughly bemused. "People either really like us -- or just hate us."

Count us among the former.
- Cleveland Scene Magazine

Changing of the Guard
Up-and-comers dropped several of 2005's top 10 local releases.
By Jason Bracelin
Article Published Dec 28, 2005

#7. Interfuse, Closed Doors Open Tracks (Tragic End Records): When Interfuse singer-bassist Lisa Cardarelli announces that it's "time to start a riot" on her band's full-length debut, it's this year's sweetest call to violence. Cardarelli's plaintive coo takes the edge off singer-guitarist Sean Djuricic's throaty pinprick of a voice. Complemented by a buzzing wall of guitars that could swallow most bands whole, they mete out tough and funny rock and roll. You won't know whether to laugh or run for your life. - Cleveland Scene Magazine

Punk Planet Magazine - Reviews PP70
Interfuse - Closed Doors Open Tracks, CD

Mixing punk, noise, and more aggressive post-punk in the vein of Shellac and the Jesus Lizard, Interfuse does the latter pretty well. For the most part, their songs are memorable, teeming with rough-edged guitars and a good combination of vocals, both male and female, both equally strong. (AJA)
- Punk Planet Magazine

READ Magazine
11/5/05
Interfuse - Closed Doors Open Tracks

Explosive, garagey post-punk with male-female dual vox. A little spastic and more than a little unpolished, but I cannot deny the rockitude.
- READ Magazine

Posted on Sun, Jun. 05, 2005

Interfuse lights up

Akron punk-indie-rock band uncorks scarcely `contained maelstrom' in its debut CD

Malcolm X AbramBeacon Journa
CLOSED DOORS OPEN TRACKS
Interfuse - Tragic End Records

Interfuse is an Akron band that maximizes the quartet format, using two guitars, bass, drums and boy/girl vocals to make as much punk-laden indie rock noise as possible.
After six years of playing all around northeast Ohio and the East Coast and releasing one independent EP, the band has finally gotten around to its full-length debut, Closed Doors Open Tracks, on Middleburg Heights' Tragic End Records. The CD's 10 tracks in a concise 35 minutes give the band just enough to time to kick listeners in the head and leave their ears ringing in satisfaction.

The lead track, Cremation of Care, begins with a blast of dissonant chaos before settling into a mix of razor-sharp Sonic Youth-like guitar lines over Nick Cardarelli's big drums, while singer/guitarist Sean Djuricic and singer/bassist Lisa Cardarelli play well off one another's vocal styles and have just enough melody to stick in your head. On My... That's a Very Nice Handbag, Lisa Cardarelli provides the cool and the melody while Djuricic answers with unhinged yowling.

Closed Doors Open Tracks isn't all updated punk/indie rock. So Jesus Walks Into a Bar is relatively straightforward hard rock tune, and the main riff of Oh My God, Don't Do It Thomas is almost metallic but played with a loose punk intensity.
The arrangements won't ever be mistaken for King Crimson's, but for listeners who like more than three chords and an attitude from their punk/indie rock, Interfuse -- like its influences Fugazi and Sonic Youth -- keeps the guitar riffs and chord progressions moving and complementing each other, and packs the songs with plenty of tension and release without relying on the soft chorus/loud verse indie rock template.

Akron and Kent have many good bands that just need to be heard, and Interfuse's controlled maelstrom will force most listeners to either pump their fists and jump on the bandwagon, or go home and desperately clutch their Norah Jones records.
- Akron Beacon Journal

This is a delightful cross between Seven Year Bitch and Fugazi. Alternating guy/girl lead vocals, lots of guitars, some political themes. It's nice to know that good things are happening in Ohio and this is a great indie abum. - AMP Magazine

While indisputably punk, the four-piece group successfully escaped the generic retread formulas plaguing most contemporary punk acts to achieve the rare feat of a distinct,personal creative identity. Alternately angry and funny, its subversive songwriting was bothin-your-face and subtly sophisticated. The wild rhythm section propelled post-Sonic-Youthguitar blasts of melodic noise with relentless atomic power."- Michael David Toth - Cleveland Free Times 12-29-2005 - Cleveland Free Times

Let it fly guitars and a head bobbing beat thrown over some good old fashioned rock-n-rollvocals ala the MC5 and many sixties bands that got the entire modern rock ball(slowly)rolling. If bands that personify everything about early, fun rock music are your bag of goodsthen for your own sake look into these fellas."- WDUB Radio Cleveland - Compilation Review
- WDUB Radio

By Jasamine White-Gluz
July 13, 2005

This record is post-hardcore deliciousness. Interfuse have honed their skill of boy/girl vocal trading and distorted mirror guitar parts. There is the obvious influence of Sonic Youth heard throughout the album, but it is for the most part influence and not imitation. Lisa’s speak-sing is almost irresistible in every song, and the classic rock meets nouveau-noise guitar parts are great. The unpolished sound of this album is probably what’s going to make it a favourite among noise and garage crowds.
- EXCLAIM! Canada Magazine

Interfuse
@ The Lime Spider; May 2005
by Krista Tortora

Loud, hard, and in your face, Interfuse injected the crowd with their branch of raw rock/punk energy. Members include Lisa Cardarelli (bass/vocals), Nick Cardarelli (drums), Sean Djuricic (guitar/vocals), and Mike Oravec (guitar). These folks have played together for the last 6 years, which shows in the way they are able to stay tight and strong while having a good time–that's right, they can be intense and still have fun.

Fun is what their crowd was having too. Even though their set started late into the evening, there was still a good-sized crowd that stayed to hear Interfuse play. From the looks on their faces, these people were fans whose adrenaline levels were rising with each loud scream, thunderous guitar chord, and exploding cymbal strike. - Epitome Magazine - North East Ohio Women