Music
Press
2/24/05
No band is perfect. But then again, no band is quite as bad as they think, either. With a name like The Great Mistake, either this band is trying to be ironic, or is in dire need of some Prozac.
In a live performance Saturday at the Tudor Lounge in Buffalo, any meds they may have been on only soothed their sound. The rock-styled foursome – including three members from Lockport – ripped through a 10-song set debuting mostly new material. The band’s first release was a six-song EP in 2003 titled “Revolutions.”
With a heavy dose of piano and melody, The Great Mistake combined a lot of basic pop and rock elements in their set.
Lead vocalist, keyboardist and guitarist Joe Castanza proved his worth on the keys. The up-tempo opener “Other Side” and its follow-up “House of Cards” featured Castanza’s magical ivory-tickling spells.
Castanza showed his versatility on one of the strongest tunes of the night, “You Will See.” He jumped between keys and guitar as the song pushed forward with the spirit of a sprinter passing the pack.
Guitarist Chris Buczkowski swooped in throughout the set with a John Frusciante-esque style of blues, especially on the nights Standout song, “Meanwhile.” Credit the band’s ability to combine a tight feel with a loose groove for their success.
TGM do it again on “By a thread,” another bluesy number layered in Buczkowski’s finely trained wah-wah.
The Band’s rhythm section of bassist Bill Webb and Drummer Mike Burakowski functioned as the band’s propulsion on a “Gish” –era Smashing Pumpkins-style ditty “Jettison,” and on the set closer “Thoughts from an Empty Room,” a song available for download on the Bands Web site, www.tgmband.com.
The band plans to head back into the studio next month to begin recording a new disc, tentatively titled “Wave to the Astronaut.” - Night and Day Magazine
southofmainstream.com
THE GREAT MISTAKE
reviewed by icecreamsocialist
If we're going to compare songs to food then let's imagine that #1 single as being an orange. It's tasty, satisfying in itself and not the kind of thing that you would necessarily eat everyday. Still, an orange is an orange and unless it's not ripe yet, you pretty much know what to expect when you peel it. You could say that the rest of the songs on that #1 record are apples: won't thrill you, won't kill you, they'll keep the doctor at bay. Not quite as exotic as the orange.
Now think of those long, great, epic masterpieces, "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Paranoid Android". These are pan-seared halibut with hollandaise sauce. Each bite brings new surprises and new levels of sensory pleasure. From start to finish they change immeasurably. Songs like these are really a journey; they change tone and move on.
If I were a betting man, I'd predict that The Great Mistake wants very badly to write epic songs, and really, I think that they might have the talent to do it. Though Revolutions is an EP, the number of different pop rock sounds that The Great Mistake achieves in six songs is really remarkable. What they haven't quite mastered is the ability to put these different aspects together in a way that hasn't been done before. Their songs are made up of connected 'rock sounds', without the transitions (or the orchestral moaning) made popular by Queen and Radiohead.
To imagine this band's sound, take Weezer's "Only in Dreams", substitute Rivers' voice with a prettier more Top 40 croon and throw in some piano intros. Though the band compares themselves to Ben Folds Five on their website, the keys have more of a Something Corporate sound. The harmonies are used sparingly but when they're there, they're tight, especially while doing the Alanis Morisette licks on "A Friend Like You".
The Great Mistake has a good thing going and if they continue with it, I hope to review another of their albums in the future. I'm rooting for halibut. - Southofmainstream.com
Discography
Revolutions (2003 TGMmusic) - EP
In Orbit Vol. 1 (2008 TGMmusic)- EP
Wave To The Astronaut - Full length coming 2009
Photos
Bio
The Piano and The Guitar had a love child…..and it’s name is THE GREAT MISTAKE. The Great Mistake is a culmination of driving piano melody and schizophrenic guitar riffs. The music is held up by fluid bass lines and commanding percussion. But enough about the instrumentation….just WHO is TGM?
TGM was officially born in 2002 in a brown paneled basement room in the “wilds” of a Buffalo, New York suburb. The project started out as one man and an acoustic guitar. It was originally just a studio project during the first few years of the new millennium. That changed in 2002 when it grew into a band. Then it began to evolve…. Electric guitars, Synthesizers, Pianos and maracas showed up. This was no longer the one-man folk rock band it was intended to be. I guess you can say it was all a mistake that we ended up being what are today. But it’s a good mistake. Perhaps even a great mistake? (HA! You see what I did there!)
TGM is comprised of four individuals that are more different from each other in musical taste then they are alike. This creative tension produces the songs that ultimately end up being released to the world. When not secretly conspiring to kill one another, the band comes together to create songs that have graced Ipods from here to Japan. TGM's founder is the ever-awkward yet determined director of all the chaos - Joe Castanza. He sings, plays the piano and sometimes the guitar (he misses playing guitar). Chris Buckowksi, is the bands meticulous Howard huges - like, mad genius on the guitar (think Egon from Ghost Busters) Chris also tends to flirt with synthesizers and acts as the bands own recording engineer. Will Webb is the stoic bass player in the corner, who dreams of his glory days, when he had a mullet and worshipped Nirvana. TGM's newest addition is drummer Steven Abramowski. Steve, being the youngest member, brings in the much-needed youthful enthusiasm to the team. His drum style is derived from bands long before his time.
Through the bands 6 years, TGM has gone through 4 line up changes ( 4 drummers and 1 bass player) and has released 2 EP's to date. As well as hundreds of public performances, including radio and television appearances. So that’s our past. Our Future holds the promise of the long fabled full-length album “WAVE TO THE ASTRONAUT” being released, as well as a tour to support the record.
The tension between Joe's love of pop/rock melodies, and Chris' love of unconventional sounds and experiments, is what makes the sound of TGM stand out. Familiar yet fresh and innovative all at once. Through the years, the band has never compromised its sound to fit the flavor of the month, and thus far it has served them well. The band does what it loves and any success that may come their way would constitute an unintended victory, or as we like to call it: A Great Mistake.
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