Midwestern indie-rock is ready to make a splash into Athens with two gangs of twenty-something wanderers. The Forecast, a band that hails from Peoria, Ill., is a tour-addicted quartet with three albums under its belt in six year's time, while Coffinberry is a Cleveland band lapping up praise for its distinctive melodies.
Victory Records' indie victory
Peoria has a pretty dead music scene with no local venues, making it hard to gain recognition, said Dustin Addis, the lead guitarist and vocalist of The Forecast. Luckily, The Forecast had enough ambition to achieve success despite the town's lack of resources.
The Forecast began in 2001 with a bunch of friends in their senior year of high school. After graduation, some members left to pursue college and jobs and new members came. The band recorded its first album, Late Night Conversations. The current line-up also includes guitarist Matt Webb, drummer Tony Peck and bassist and vocalist Shannon Burns.
Having a female in the group is challenging for some bands, but not The Forecast.
Shannon doesn't make as many gross jokes
but other than that she is one of the guys and pretty laid back Addis said.
Since being signed to Victory Records, the band has been touring at least nine months per year, and members experience some crazy tour occurrences.
In Connecticut we got invited to a house partyG?it seemed straight out of Can't Hardly WaitG?some people even left with broken legs Addis said.
'Just the right splash of dissonance'
Channeling a string of influences young and old, Coffinberry is a band with an unusual name and distaste for classification.
The band formed in 2002 along the muddy banks of the Cuyahoga River by brothers Nick and Tony Cross, lifelong musicians who do their best to refrain from sibling antagonisms, said drummer Tony.
The band's name, both peculiar and unforgettable, is actually that of a pioneer of the Northwest Territory, though unbeknownst to the band members when they chose it.
It's actually a preschool that me and Nick attended
Tony Cross said. It's kind of stupid
but we have to stick with it now. For better or for worst
people tend to remember it. Coffinberry also includes bassist Patrick O'Connor and guitarist Tony Janicek.
Lauded in their hometown and hot on the heels of their first full album release, God Dam Dogs, Coffinberry is eager to tour the Midwest and beyond, Tony Cross said.
The band's music is a melodic jangle that has been described as short
loud
and melodic
with just the right splash of dissonance and feedback splattered about like a fun Jackson Pollock print by Utter Trash magazine.
On the topic of the band's sound, Tony Cross remains tight-lipped.
We're four guys with some instruments
playing music in Cleveland
he said.
The band invokes wide-ranging influences, from the unkempt rock of The Rolling Stones to the animated dissonance of The Pixies. Coffinberry's members live in close quarters and expose one another to new, unfamiliar things, Tony Cross said.
