spacebar
by Rachel Shimp
Pop-punk and nu-metal bands of Jacksonville step aside, and get ready
for more of the sort of swooning induced by The Julius Airwave and
Cubby- Spacebar has arrived, crafting songs with pop precision and
radiating a healthy dose of sex appeal in the Jacksonville music
scene. The band consists of frontman James Rowand on the microphone
and casio, guitarists Art Hardie and Willie "No Frills" Ferris,
bassist Steve Schwaradon and drummer Brandon Denton rounding out this
new and welcome addition.
Playing together since last year, the band has been working furiously
on a ten-song album, currently defying accurate description, at
Warehouse Studios.
"I think what we’re trying to do is like an 80s dance thing, but with
distorted guitars and real drums. And good songs," Rowand said.
Adding covers of The Cure’s "Lovesong" and Depeche Mode’s "Enjoy the
Silence" to their own batch of sweet, infectious songs has them on the
right track. At a recent show one crowd member commented on Rowand
"making love to the microphone," a charge he quickly embraces. A blend
of grown-up innocence and flirtatiousness ("Spacebar afterparties are
top secret...unless you’re a girl," says the band) lends interest to
their brand of pop.
Spacebar acknowledge that the realm of pop music itself has slowly
undergone a dramatic, and not necessarily bad, change. They admit that
old Weezer records just aren’t packing the same punch they once did. "Oooh-Whoa-Whoa,"
they collectively moan, mocking the simplicity and repetition of so
many back-in-the-day pop hits. As a recent departure from that style,
bands like The Faint and The Postal Service have wowed the indie rock
community by incorporating more electronics than the average tinkering
session- equaling the musicians’ share of center stage. However,
Farris makes the distinction that Spacebar is willing to let their
music be enhanced by electronics, but not be reliant on them. He found
the extent of The Faint’s pre-recording of their recent Marquee show
irritating. "I couldn’t quite shake the feeling that I just paid $14
to watch them dance," he says. The group agrees. "It didn’t feel like
a rock band, and we want it to feel like you saw a rock band," adds
Hardie. "We have a vision of something grand and a kind of persistence
to reach it. Once the album’s done we’re going to recreate the sound
and make it (the show) a complete spectacle."
As the imaginary lines between pub and club dissolve, the excitement
this union can create is not lost on the members of Spacebar. Ready to
fine-tune their already solid songs for the dancefloor, the rest of
this year will be spent largely in the studio, tweaking with ProTools
with that goal in mind. Although the spacebar on a keyboard can
signify a pause or break in ideas, this Spacebar won’t be having any
of those for quite a while.
SPACEBAR -
Friday, Aug. 8 at the Freebird Cafe
with Julius Airwave and the Dirtybirds.
www.spacebarmusic.com |
