| A
few Mondays ago, while conducting dangerous field work in the jungles
of punk rock/heavy metal karaoke, I arrived early at Arlene
Grocery so as to ensure myself access to the all-important Clipboard.
While I was waiting for the 10 PM madness to start, though, I noticed
a trio up on stage that really grabbed my attention. I gave their
manager my e-mail address, and, a few days later, the Asher Kahn Band's
CD, Content, complete with press kit, arrived at CORPORATE
MOFO headquarters. Wow, I am someone!
Without
the press kit, I would have been free to speculate that Asher Kahn
was an alien from Jupiter, sent by a hyper-funky race of hyper-intelligent
gas creatures to bring groove back to the people of Earth. Alas,
he, bass player Mike Smith, and drummer Aaron Boczkowski hail from
someplace slightly more prosaic: Pennsylvania. They met as students
at Penn State University, and hooked up again after graduating.
And it's a good thing they did, too.
So, how's
the album? Well, I liked it. Actually, I liked it a lot. I liked
it so much, I played it for all my friends, and they liked it, too.
In fact, I'm listening to it as I write this. You know a band's
good when you find yourself humming their songs at your day job.
Their mellower songs brought me back to college, in the golden moment
in the fall when the leaves are just starting to turn and you're
glad to be back at school, getting high with your friends, but before
the crisp note in the air gives way to the cold dark of winter,
complete with midterms and the inevitable worry about the future.
Asher Kahn band of reminded me of Dave Matthews—and that means
it's really something that I liked them, since Dave Matthews really
bothers the hell out of me—but with some overtones of Zeppelin's
bluesier stuff. If you're at all a Phish, Blues Traveler, Rusted
Root, or Dave Matthews kinda person, you'll like the Asher Kahn
band.
The one
complaint anyone had about the album was the mix: The vocal track
is dominant, at the expense of muffling the background music. This
isn't so much of a problem, as Kahn is a more than competent vocalist,
but he's also an excellent guitarist, and the guitar work tends
to get lost in the background. C'est le vie.
For more
on the Asher Kahn band, and to see if you can scam yourself a free
CD, check out their Web site at www.asherkahnband.com.
Yes,
you, too can play music for us and buy us beer. E-mail editor@corporatemofo.com.
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