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The Dirty Walk, Elf Power, Stylex, Enon 29/10/02, Mickey Finn's, Toledo, Ohio Hey this was a pretty damn good show, man! Unless you've been living under a rock shaped not much unlike the unrighteously pretentious mass that is MTV, you've at least heard of Enon, and probably Elf Power. Sure, the name Elf Power sucks a whole lot, but that's ok because these guys are good. Not great, but good. In the same family of bands such as Neutral Milk Hotel and The Shins, these guys tightly wind together fuzz pop with additional flavors of new wave and psychedelic rock. The Dirty Walk was real good too. Obviously influenced by bands such as Jesus Lizard, The Stooges, and resemble Rye Coalition, like it or not. Oh, yeah, you better fucking like it. Moving on, next we have Stylex. In my opinion, these guys were the belles of the ball. Yes folks, they impressed me more then Enon. My apologies. I wanna fill you in with a little background information, though, so listen up. I go to Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Up until last night I had lost almost all faith in the local music scene. Don't get me wrong; there are some local bands that play some badass, balls out rock, but for the most part, no. Anyhow, back to Stylex. Yeah, holy fuckin' shit! They rock! They categorize themselves as "newer new wave". Fueled by powerful synthesizers and an insane group of guys, the magic Stylex creates is like ecstasy in musical form. Really. I like it that much, and you should too. Plus, they played with the Liars. The fucking Liars (one of my personal favorites)! And Girls Against boys! And the Yeah Yeah Yeah's! And The Catheters! Holy crap! They bear a strong, but harder, and obvious resemblance (more like a homage, really) to bands such as Devo, Brainiac, Enon and the newer but more mediocre (I think) band The Faint, just to give you an idea of what you're in for. So check out their website (www.stylexohio.com) and enjoy, damn it! These guys are gonna be big, I think, so keep an eye out for 'em. Then we have Enon. Enon was who I came to see, and they were really, really, really great, (whereas Stylex was really, really, really, really great) but you should already know that. If you don't know that, please run out and get some taste. -http://www.btinternet.com/%7Ebrain.love/music.html Clamor #17: Listening to Stylex is like being on the receiving end of a cocaine enema. If you understood what I mean, move on to the next review. Otherwise, let me explain. Imagine, for a moment, that a slightly sadistic doctor inserted a tube into your rectum, filled you with a mixture of water and very pure cocaine, and then drained you out. The first time, it burns terribly, and you hate every second of it. Then when itıs over and the pain has subsided, you feel an elated euphoria and youıre ready to take on anything. Then you, my friend, are fucking hooked. Blending the craziest mix of analog synths, MIDI controllers, cheap drum sequencers, and some completely unrecognizable sounds and samples with the energy f hardcore punk,, Stylex brings to mind images of DevoE not necessarily the Devo we all know and love, mind you, but a Devo deep in the depths of a crystal meth binge on a really, really shitty day. Thereıs a weird emptiness and detachment in the music (that becomes more apparent when reading the lyrics along with the songs) which is counterbalanced by a feral aggressiveness that only gives more power to a few truly beautiful tracks on this album. Donıt get me completely wrong, here-this is a happy pop album too. Thatıs what fucked me up the most. I caught myself screaming along at top volume to songs I had never heard before, pissing off my neighbors, and annoying my wife to no end. I heavily, seriously, and completely recommend this album to anyone who wants a bit of musical adventure. ---Jeremy Mahler Shredding paper #14: The Well-Abused Synthesizer is a recently forged tradition in rock: Rev and Vega, Ubu, CabVolt and T. Gristle, the Screamers, upheld today by contemporaries like Aphex Twin and Add N to X. Thus, it gives me such pleasure to hip you to the latest addition to this esteemed company, namely this Ohio quartet. If nothing else, Stylex does their Buckeye brethren proud, squeezing jagged nightmare sounds from their banks of artificial sonic intelligence. Like the late Tomataıs mob, though, such techno-manhandlig is rooted in a rock-based pulse that throws the listener/victim around the room like a mad cyberdervish. The effect is not unlike attending an 80ıs club night on bad acid, with scenes from "Metropolis" and old Devo videos projected on opposite walls...thatıs a compliment by the way. Definitely one of the more challenging and deliciously nervewrecking debuts of recent times. MLH Recoil Magazine: Friction Records' "newer new wave" band Stylex triumphantly brings to its mostly electronic mix the ever-volatile yet plumb necessary human element; the band's masterfully delicate blend of quirky voltage and traditional instrumentation should personally embarrass all of those home studio eggheads who obsessively refer to their endless layers of randomly steered loops as "art." Instead, these four Ohio freethinkers intelligently craft songs that drive ("Sea Of Numbers"), confuse Program") and, above all, become permanently lodged in the brain ("Bureaucracy"). Wonder Program convincingly argues that our digital future will become only as cold as we let it. Toledo City Paper / Sue MacPhee: Pressing the eject button on my CD player, I watch as the cartridge dutifully offers up the silver disc. As I lift the Wonder Program from its berth, I surreptitiously check for ash, and glance behind the stereo to make sure nothing is smoking. I take a breath of fresh air, for I have just emerged from the pulsating, volcanic cauldron of the "hidden" track 13. Several weeks have come and gone while trying to find the words to describe the sound of Stylex. Their Web site helpfully calls it, "newer, new wave." An orgy of electronic, keyboard-driven melody and noise, Stylex borrows from past masters of synthesized music like Ultravox, Gary Numan, John Foxx and Devo. They also cite Dayton's Brainiac, and popster Burt Bacharach, but everything here sounds new, or at least, new again. Brian Kantorski (bass, synthesizer), Dustin Hostetler (vocals), Joel Roberts (synthesizer, vocal, guitar, drum machine), and Jeff Loose (drums, engineering) are the four musicians responsible for the many wonders of Wonder Program. Recorded in Loose's and Roberts' apartments, the finished product resembles the work of mature musicians with millions of dollars and endless studio time on their hands, rather than a somewhat unsung (as yet) local band. Musical dichotomies run rampant in Wonder Program, keeping the listener's attention so that even before one song is finished you're already anticipating the next. Atonal and harmonic, the machine made human, the human made automaton, with moods running from foreboding and futuristic (as in the song "Bureaucracy,") to the Forest Gump-like charm of "Diebold." All of these tunes are infused with energy but also a human poignancy sometimes missing from electronic music. In "Robotso," Hostetler becomes cyborg, voicing the universal obsessive, "I can't stop S1 thinking about you!" Stylex is proof that as our world becomes increasingly technological, humans will use such gifts to emote and communicate, albeit in new and unfamiliar ways. Toledo City Paper / Scott Herman: A newer, new wave of style Backing a deluge of pulse-driven guitars, keyboards and drum patterns, amid screaming vocals that seem to echo in the pit of your stomach, a synthesized dissonance builds toward a fever pitch. This musical pageantry and masterful orchestration comes courtesy of four blue-collar boys from northwest Ohio, collectively known as Stylex. "Joel [Roberts] and I have known each other since day care," says Stylex lead vocalist Dustin Hostetler. He, Roberts (drum machine, keyboards, guitar, synthesizers and backup vocals) and high school chum Brian Kantorski (bass), team up with Jeff Loose (drums) to form Stylex. Native to Bowling Green, Stylex has taken advantage of every possible resource, from local record shops to the kids that go out to the shows. "They sold more CDs in two months than any other band did the entire year," says Jim Cummer, owner of B.G.'s Mad Hatter Music. Creating a sound described as synth rock by some, new wave by others, and even newer new wave as the scene matures, Stylex remains optimistically ambiguous in the face of inevitable categorization. "I think what makes us so successful is the fact that we don't fit into a specific genre," says Hostetler. While groups such as Devo, Kraftwerk and Brainiac have directly influenced the band's collective approach to music, individual tastes loom near the surface as well: Loose digs the Kinks; Kantorski puts Air and 6 Finger Satellite at the top of his list; while Hostetler listens to underground hip-hop. "I've been listening to a lot of Burt Bacharach," says Roberts. Ultimately, band members draw inspiration from each other. The release of Wonder Program, Stylex's first The release of Wonder Program, Stylex's first full-length album on Friction Records, exhibits the band's eclectic versatility in successfully fusing elements of both the electronic synthesizer and the rock 'n' roll guitar. While still holding down day jobs to pay the bills, Stylex found time to write, record and package the disc, clutching to that organic do-it-yourself mantra. The band's strong work ethic has allowed for sustained success. Regularly packing Bowling Green's Howard's Club H, as well as other clubs, the band continues to press forward. Stylex has played with the likes of the Liars, Girls Against Boys, and the Detachment Kit along the way, and can't help but ponder the possibilities. "Our interest in playing out of town ... out of state, is growing every day," says Hostetler. "It would be great to do a tour." However, the band is not in any rush to hop the next plane to New York or Chicago. "We are all a bit too rooted here," says Hostetler. "Venues change, but the small group of people that come to all the shows and the bands from [northwest Ohio] that just keep getting better keep the scene alive." In the wake of Wonder Program, Stylex has already begun work on a follow-up album to be released in the coming months. Aside from that, Loose has kept busy on a double-disc personal project, while Hostetler is set to release Issue No. 2 of his magazine Faesthetic (www.faesthetic.com). http://www.cmhwak.com/ Well, first off... this isnt very screamy. Its not screamo or emo violence or emo or emomo. Its more of what Jacen would cover at NewHardcore. Its nu-wavish. Here gos a review though... This 13 song CD starts with some crazy synth and vocals similar to something like Red Light Sting. They get compared to The Faint, Devo and Braniac and those are very very good comparisons, truly. They dont sound exactly like any one of those but they do have similar aspects. In the second song, "Bureaucracy" you can definitly hear Braniac in the vocals. The same is true for song three, "Rattlesnakes" and Devo. If it were playing in a record store im sure someone would go... "hey, isnt that Devo" or "hey Tony and Ronnie, doesnt this sound like Devo?". The whole disk gets split up with fun dancy type songs and more subdued chill out songs. Theres very little guitar in this from what I hear. The synths play the main role here along with the programmed and human drums. The vocals can range from really strange wacked out shouting to just sassy little singing parts to nice "normal" singing. The songs themselves flow along at a good pace and are aranged well. Theres a lot of music on this disk too. You definitly cant get bored with it. If you like any of those bands I mentioned above, this is sure to be a winner with you. The band takes all those elements of this genre that you love and they mix it all up and throw it back together with something thats their own. Call it Nu Wave or New New Wave or No Wave or New Wave or Monkey Wave... I dont know, Its just a good time. The Glass Eye (vol 9, issue 7) 3.5 EYES (out of 4) I've been listening to Stylex's debut for some time, finally attempting to write about it, as the band continues to open the floodgates of northwest Ohio with their neurotic, yet insightful over-achieving electronica. Based in this area, and mostly associating themselves with our overbearing indie-scene, one might assume Stylex to come off as self-important 'art-rock,' but such isn't the case! Wonder Program starts out with the title-track, which immediately places them in a sound somewhere between Servotron and Buttsteak -- two bands that share Stylex's obvious love of Devo (in fact, the dark, low-fi half-synth/half-instrumentation of Wonder Program brings to mind producer Ken Scott's work on Duty Now For the Future). Likewise, "Not 2 Nite" and "Rattlesnakes" remind me of Evolotto's Schmid fronting a slower, more reliable version of Mindless Self-Indulgence (that's a compliment), as vocalist Dustin Hostetler sounds downright uncomfortable at times! Almost all of the tracks have an energized robotic sound (see "Robotso" for the most evidence of this) that creates an almost assembly-line shudder that trembles through the tracks, though there's rarely a whomping beat, which makes the rhythm less dancey than you'd expect. It would be nice if the band employed a little more electronica (as they attempt in "Robotso") to compliment their synth rhythms, but that's what keeps it old-school sounding (no 808 kicks here). The band's namesake track, "Stylex," starts out mediocre, then dovetails into a beautiful, slow, ebbing tune that's reminiscent of Brian Eno, while "No!" would actually fit nicely in a Reznor-shaped world. Fans of old-school electronica will love this: music to read George Orwell or L Ron Hubbard to. Dammit -- I wish I would have signed this band! ES3 |