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They brought their guitars, drums and Alesis synthesizer to Art Bar Saturday night for a headlining set. They kicked things off with drummer Ross Bolton and singer Jayna Doyle offstage. Guitarist Blake Arambula dialed up a sampled dance beat and laid synth lines over it as smoke from a fog machine glittered off the disco ball hanging over the stage. The audience clapped along in rhythm as Bolton and Doyle joined the band on stage and kicked things into high gear.
The music hung around pop with occasional forays into harder-edged rock. Arambula alternated between playing guitar and synth. Guitarist Scott Long played subtle, understated parts and bassist Jamie Beavers thumped out some big, fuzzed-out bass lines. Bolton played with reckless abandon, infecting the audience with an insistent need to nod heads and shake asses. He got a little too reckless at a few points, getting kinda sloppy and throwing the music off beat. He was solid overall however, as evidenced by his ability to play in perfect coordination with the sampled drum tracks.
"I caught it ['Models and Bottles'] on the radio one afternoon and was instantly hooked -- and pleasantly surprised when I heard the DJ say they were from Columbia.” |
Besides awesome synth leads, the main story behind This Machine is Me is rock diva Jayna Doyle. Her alto voice sounds full and rich in lower registers and thins out into a rock and roll rasp on higher notes. She commanded the stage visually, dressed in a black dress and heels with curly red hair framing her impassioned face. Her facial expressions are compelling as she alternates between batting her eyes playfully and contorting her features in desperate longing. However, she needs a little work as the band’s “frontman” -- she doesn’t do a great job of chatting up the audience in between songs. A lot of her remarks were kinda rambling and she told a joke about drummer Ross Bolton that came off kinda awkward.
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The band added a few covers to their mostly original set: “What’s Going On” by Four Non Blondes and “Everlong” by Foo Fighters. “What’s Going On” was done as a duet with guitar and vocals. It was a pretty simple version but did a good job engaging the crowd in a mass sing along. (Seth, vocalist from local band Cats and Cobras, was standing in the front row and Doyle held out the mic for him to belt out one of the choruses.) “Everlong” was reimagined with two guitars over a sampled dance beat. It came off pretty limp and anticlimactic. Their best use of cover material was when Arambula played the famous stadium-rock strains of Zombie Nation’s “Kernkraft 400” on his synth, which was then seamlessly morphed into one of the band’s original song.
The band closed with “Models and Bottles”, which I knew they would do. This well-crafted dance-rock anthem is a hit waiting to happen. I caught it on the radio one afternoon and was instantly hooked -- and pleasantly surprised when I heard the DJ say they were from Columbia. The live version wasn’t quite as slick as the recorded one, but it still made a great climax to the show. Doyle draped the microphone cord over her shoulders and sank to her knees as she belted out the final chorus.
Overall, I feel that This Machine is Me is poised to make a big splash in the local and regional music scene. The charisma of Jayna Doyle is infectious, and the songwriting is well-thought out and subtle. Hooks and melodies lurk at every turn, and just enough is left to the imagination to make you want to hear the song again instantly. The band needs to get a little tighter and work on their audience interactions between songs, but the concept they have going is delicious and a welcome addition to Columbia’s music scene.
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For More Info, visit: myspace.com/thismachineisme
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