SquidBucket

As a listener what grabs me most about Squidbucket's music is that you can hear them thinking -- their use of compound time signatures and sudden dramatic shifts in tone is always for good reason. There's always an awareness of moving beyond their most obvious influences, in different directions each time out. What's most original about their recordings and their performances is the sudden turns. They can bring it as heavy and as technical as anyone, but they can also pivot into riffs nodding to jazz, funk, carnival, classical. "When I laugh, I know something's good," guitarist/founder Jason Erwin says in regards to his band's unusual songwriting approach. Raw-experimental-psychedelic, aggressive emotions are central to the music. But the band's intelligence and fierce chops take them on surprising detours, often late in the running time of their layered, confounding compositions. Bassist Kurt Rightler and drummer Eric Brown are effortlessly fluid at their instruments, playing enough for four at times, but lay back when the songs require it. Squidbucket's songs begin as riffs (Jason: "there's more feeling than thought behind it") and are pieced together more through feel than through logic. When a song idea gets stuck, rather than trying to work through it logically, Erwin reaches into his cookie jar of riffs until the right lottery ball pops out. In addition to the complex, progressive sections, songs tend to have portions where the band works a groove as well. Anything these guys play would sound good -- Rightler's finger-tapping prowess is matched with the discipline to play many different styles and always put the song first, and prodigy Brown reportedly had most of these monstrous tunes down by the first or second try. What sets them most apart is their dedication to matching their proficiency to music of real originality. Erwin views Squidbucket as much as an ongoing work of abstract art as a rock band. Many of the same not-quite-verbal ideas found in their music extend to their CD and poster artwork. In addition to his production work, Jason is a busy screenprinter and designer. He grew up and became serious about music in Montgomery, Alabama and moved to Houston to have more opportunities to play weirder and louder. He continued working on his writing while a pursuing a music degree in Orlando and shifted operations to Austin in 2008 after meeting Rightler in Florida. They discovered Brown through his other band Muchos Backflips! and he became the third drummer on their first self-titled EP. 2009's Celery City, again produced by Jason and recorded at Big Door Studios in Houston, solidified the new lineup. New material and adding new elements to their live performances are Squidbucket's focus in 2010. With their dedication, talent and vision listeners -- and musicians! -- in Austin and elsewhere should pay close attention. -Western Homes