Viceroy

By Jim DeRogatis

In and effort to keep up with the onslaught of worthy Do-It-Yourself releases from local bands, I’m going to try to include more regular reviews beyond my quarterly (or thereabouts) Local Band Roundups.

This week: the hard hitting, self-titled debut from a quartet called Viceroy. Named for a gothic jazz era hotel in Uptown (sic), Viceroy is comprised of four veteran scenesters, including guitarist Nick Miller, who holds an enviable day job as a talent buyer with Jam Productions. Miller knows plenty about the life of underground musicians and during it’s best moments, Viceroy’s hard rocking 10-song album is about nothing more than the joys and aspirations of the gigging local band. Witness, “Rock N Roll Poster”, which finds guitarist-vocalist Derek Ault paying tribute to the dreams portrayed in the same over a crunching backdrop somewhere between stoner rock and the more no-frills end 80s metal. (Think Queens of the Stone Age meet Guns N Roses)

“Rock N Roll Poster/it was a promise hangin on the wall…Let’s get it started!” Ault howls, and any band that’s ever covered Lakeview and Bucktown with a stack of fliers and a bucket of wall paper paste can surely relate. The band’s website, www.viceroyrocks.com, is a work in progress but it will presumably host more information about upcoming shows and how to buy the band’s disc soon, and Viceroy is a group to watch. - Chicago Sun-Times - April 14, 2006