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BANDS: Punk
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Sonic Roach
Destruction Unit: Opus Roachus Maximus
What does one say about a band named Sonic Roach Destruction Unit? First, there is the obvious issue of the atrocious name. Thinking about this for several days, it became impossible for me to figure out why any group would decide to name themselves Sonic Roach Destruction Unit. This name might make sense for a bizarre heavy metal band, however SRDU is not a heavy metal bandnot even close, so why the weird name? I mean, is one of the members of the group an exterminator or something, or maybe an insect breeder (do such things even exist)? After doing a little research on the band, no information could be found on the significance of the name except for its proclivity to allow for funny show fliers. So, as far as the name goes, it must remain a mystery. Now to the actual music, a reviewer sitting down for the first time to listen to a band called Sonic Roach Destruction Unit is expecting something hilariously bad. What a surprise then to find that SRDU is neither a high school punk band, nor a heavy metal act. Playing surprisingly mellow music that is best compared to a cross between early Freaks era Pulp and maybe the Feelies or something like that. They play jangly, poppy songs that sometimes veers into darker territory sounding often like the Byrds on a bad trip. Their album, Opus Roachus Maximus, with its characteristically horrible name, is surprisingly good for those who go for that type of music. Their songs are mostly mid-tempo rockers that only suffer from occasionally awful singing. The SRDUs press info suggests that they have had a lot of success playing shows in Columbus, Ohio. This is kind of hard for me to believe, because on record they are tolerably decent; however, I cannot see anything other than boredom coming from seeing them live. Not once on this album do they ever really rock, and their melodies and lyrics are not interesting enough to keep the attention of even the most inebriated Buckeye barfly. Even though the music is similar, it is hard to believe that fans of the Feelies would really appreciate SRDU. A more likely fan of SRDU would be someone interested in mid-tempo jam acts like the Samples. That having been said, it might still be worth checking out the SRDUs website as they have a pretty large amount of downloads available, and you can make up your mind about the Roach for yourself.
This album can be purchased at Galaxy CDs and Fortune City Sonic Roach Destruction Unit Official Website About LOTD Contact/Staff Advertise Home All content © LEFT OFF THE DIAL 2001-2005. All rights reserved. |
