LICK
Albany, California, United States
Music
Press
Lick's "No Love" is some of the most interesting music I've heard in some time. With its haunting, siren-like vocals, biting guitar, driving bass lines and wild but controlled drum work, "No Love" is a fascinating listen throughout. If you heard the vocals and music separately, you'd swear they wouldn't fit together but, when combined here, the effect is nothing short of hypnotic. The seven tracks on this CD are mesmerizing throughout and will probably have you reaching for the replay button the moment the CD comes to an end. The songwriting style here is so unique and you may find yourself wondering if you've ever heard anything like it before. Comparisons will come to mind along the lines of Evanescence, Lacuna Coil and others but those are passing influences at best. Lick is a band with a sound all their own. The real surprise, however, is how instantly addicting "No Love" really is.
- by R. Scott Bolton, Rough Edge
Take a cool new metal band with industrial flourishes and a wide-ranged female vocalist and you have San Francisco’s Lick. They play heavy chord rock that aims to sound loud, larger than life. It is, and it’s not the typical thunderous drone of drums and calculated guitar licks one might expect from dude rock. It’s amalgam of ideas will entice hard rock listeners who seek variety, while also turning on the more conventional.
Keri Campbell’s vocals are sugary and soaring, indifferent to the gut throated tattoo covered guys fronting today. Imagine Debbie Harry fronting System of a Down. Her vocals are a different way to go, a fine twist against the fractured ferocity of the band’s music.
- by Brian Tucker, Bootleg Magazine
"Lick, an alt-metal band from San Francisco, performed a short set before the Lamb took over that night, and they brought some prog-rock psychedelia with them to add to the mix. I can’t be absolutely sure, but Lick may be the first metal band I’ve seen that performs with a full-sized standup bass. Their overall sound is unique, even arty. Singer Keri Kevorkian fronted their performance with a voice that mixed Grace Slick’s with Cocteau Twins’ Liz Frasier’s at times, and then sheered through the center of your skull at others with the scream of a mythical, tortured banshee. The band backed up her performance with complex time signatures, furious and chunky guitar work, and excellent bass lines."
- by Billy Thieme, Denver Post
Discography
Released EP titled No Love
For streaming tracks, visit www.myspace.com/lick
Photos
Bio
An alt./jazz-metal rock band based in San Francisco, LICK have been performing throughout West Coast and Midwest since 2005. The lead vocalist, Keri Campbell, has a vocal style that’s all her own. She blends the sultry melodic with the extremely powerful. Her jazz-rock powerhouse vocals help LICK create a Portishead meets Rage Against-the Machine vibe.
The original music written by songwriter and lead guitarist, Paul Allan, layers soulful vocals and alt. rock sensibilities over a jazz-metal foundation. LICK create an enormous sound, energy and pocket during their live show — an amazing live show that wins over rock-metal fans, but also impresses and makes fans of those who normally don’t listen to this genre of music.
Although Campbell has fronted rock, jazz and metal bands, she’s not the only attention-getter of the group. Allan was asked by Prince to record guitar and bass at his Paisley Park Studios; he has also toured with several other groups, playing clubs and stadiums in the U.S. and many other countries. His first solo project, Rummble Bee, a progressive metal band on the Dreamworks’ label, toured with Tool and other major acts.
Cedric Wilmott has played drums for several alt. rock national and international touring bands; he’s one of the best drummers in Northern California.
Bassist Gage Stevenson has performed in numerous jazz, funk and rock groups throughout the country.
There’s no doubt LICK are changing the current state of the rock-metal scene. They’re feverishly breaking down walls, gaining fans all over the world and giving people a new perspective on today’s popular music.
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