Thank you to Jay Bredwell and the Madhouse for allowing us to review the bands and entry into the haunted house.

Cooker

Scheduled to play was one of Lawrence's finest bands called "the Switch", but from word around the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer Room", I learned that they had to cancel due to scheduling conflicts. I was pretty disappointed. The first time I saw the Switch I was amazed. They are a really incredible band.

At that time, I was clueless to who was filling in for the Switch, so I decided to scope out the equipment on the stage. There were two Mesa/Boogie amps, the guitarist with a Dual Rectifier (I think it was a trem-o-verb) and lots of nifty modules that I can't be specific about because I don't know what they do (or what they're called). A wah pedal and some other gadjits (so I don't know what I'm talking about, sue me). The bass player had an incredible rig -- an Ernie Ball stingray, 4 string, all black. *pant*pant*pant* (my dream bass) I was excited. I imagined some tall, muscular guy with baggy shorts playing guitar and a shorter, skinny guy with short, very curly hair slapping the hell out of that Stingray (don't ask me why). I couldn't wait to check them out. "Who is this band?" I thought.

This band was Cooker. These three guys from Kansas City were NOTHING like I imagined (or hoped). To be up front, I thought they were awful. The first thing that really made a bad impression on me was that the bass player had this awesome rig, and did absolutely nothing with it. He played with a pick, and very badly. I don't have anything against bassists who use a pick (Eric Avery from Janes Addiction is an incredible bassist) but the bass lines were unoriginal and very simple. He got a better sound out of that guitar when he plucked it to re-tune than he did the whole time he played it. The guitarist had more clever riffs and I was impressed with how much he used the wah pedal, but they were still pretty much boring, predictable, and unchanging. With each song, the riffs basically stayed the same. They sounded like grunge-rock, alternative -- definitely reminded me of Nirvana. They also sounded like they had a lot of Tool and Korn influence, but badly played. There was a lot of screaming and yelling, not too much singing from the heart. A ballad about a "brown eyed girl" (if I caught the words correctly) was the only song that I thought had some promise, but definitely could use some work.

The set was about 45 minutes long with re-tuning after every other song and a little bit of chatting. After the set while Nasa's Little Secret was setting up, the singer/guitarist came up to talk to the people around me. He was very, very nice. He mentioned that Cooker had played at the Madhouse many times and they consider the shows practice because at this time they don't have a practice space. We chatted for a little while and I asked him how long his band had been together. "about six months" was the reply. They weren't bad musicians. I definitely think the bass player needs some work. His riffs were very boring and it made me frustrated to see that Stingray up there being played like that! But they've only been together a little while so who knows what kind of band Cooker will be in the next six months? Hey, with practice you can only improve, right?

Anybody who's seen Nasa's in the past, knows that the ambient qualities present in their compositions (yes, compositions) have the ability to take a listener to another place; some kind of sonic plane far above the normal grunge, or whiny college rock bullshit. The sounds they achieve have the uncanny effect of surrounding you....due in part to the fact that these guys understand stereo sound placement, and how to craft various sonic effects through their "modules". I have seen them many times, but tonight was something i was really looking forward to.

They set up, and right away there were sound problems. For one, there was no microphone for Dave Gaume to sing through! However, it didn't make a difference. The beauty and purity of their sound filled the Bronze (the club within the Madhouse) and right away we all forgot where we were. Being a musician myself, i could only sit and wonder how these guys could come up with their sound....everything carefully crafted, and everything a mass of controlled chaos. Needless to say these guys are one of the most talented bands around.

If i had to desccribe them, i would simply say this: 2 parts rock, and 1 part beautiful chaos. Definitely a band to see live. If you can catch them with Grovel and the Black Water, you are in for a real treat.