by Al Muzer

There must be close to a million bands out there with a two guitar/female vocals/bass/drums line-up. And — judging by the sorry state of the pop charts and a quick spin through the radio dial — only a handful of 'em are actually capable of coming up with anything that sounds new, creative, unique, challenging or, for that matter, interesting. 

Miles ahead of the few groups that don’t sound like everybody else are the four amazing musicians who make up New Brunswick, New Jersey’s Prosolar Mechanics. Coming on hard and heavy behind a radio-ready slab of angst-pop genius called “Impact” that’s backed by a swirling, swerving, freakishly-driven brood-pulse ball-buster known as “X Marks The Spot” — drummer Dave Reynolds (ex-Urchins, Spiral Jetty, Pontoons), guitarist/vocalist Alex Saville (ExVegas, MayFirst), vocalist/guitarist Amy Jacob (ExVegas, Urchins, MayFirst) and bassist Mike Kabok (L.A.’s Clay Idols) — are currently laying-down some of the freshest, Sonic Youth-aware, carpet-of-sound thick, pop-based, mega-melt guitar-barrage hum since, well…since Sonic Youth was hitting on all eight.

Not particularly fast in the recording studio (“We’re definitely into taking our time and trying to get it right,” Jacob comments during a recent interview) Prosolar Mechanics are “officially” represented on tape, vinyl and CD by a mere six tracks.

“Oh, we’re recording some new demos on our own,” she offers when her song-rich outfit’s meager recorded output is brought up. “But, our short-term plan is to try to convince some decent, hard-working indie label (with resources!) to help us put out a full-length. We’d do it ourselves, but we don’t have the money or energy you need to do the promotion it takes to make it all worth-while. We do,” she adds, “want to put something out so we have an excuse to tour, though.”

“We’ve kind’a learned that recording is its own animal,” Jacob says of the long hours the members of Prosolar Mechanics spend together in the studio. “It’s an essential part of writing [a song] — and the experience plays a huge part the way the final version of a song sounds.”

“There’s so much you can do in the studio if you’re actually given the time to really work with the recording process,” she continues with obvious enthusiasm. “Historically, however, I’ve never really been in a band where I was able to do that, to stretch out and get to really know a song in the studio. With the stuff Prosolar is doing now, though, we’ve actually had a chance to experiment a little in the studio. Which means that we can take our songs even further than we imagined when we wrote them.”

“Mike, in particular, has really helped us to see recording as, like Amy was saying, ‘Its own animal’ — sort of like an art form in itself,” Saville offers. “I mean, I put a lot of pressure on myself and I spent a lot of time in various studios over the years trying to capture a ‘live’ sound, a certain ‘feel,’ that I was never quite able to get until I went into the studio with this group.”

“For me,” he says when the amount of time all four members of the band have spent collectively chipping away at success is brought up, “well, it was probably, like, eight years ago…I had two weeks off and I was on vacation by myself. I spent two entire weeks asking myself, ‘Am I really doing [working as a musician] what I want to be doing? Do I really want to keep on doing this?’ I mean, there are a lot of other ways I could’ve hooked up with a no future sort’a existence…”

“It’s a heartbreak,” Jacob half-jokes with a wry, “been there” laugh, “that’s what it is. Really. Trying to get anywhere at this is so…[sighs].”

“I eventually came to the conclusion that, probably, the ‘smart’ thing for me to do was to give it all up and get a real…” Saville tails off with a shudder before he actually speaks the two words in the English language that can make a serious musician cringe in fear — “day job.”

“You know…take the ‘cure.’ ”

“The only problem with that,” he chuckles, “is that I couldn’t do that if I wanted to. I don’t really…well, for me…it’s not like I really have a whole lot of choice in the matter. This is what I…this is what we do…”

“What we have to do,” emphasizes Jacob.

“Maybe that’s why what comes across in the music of Prosolar Mechanics,” offers Saville, “is not us following any particular bandwagon. It’s more like the sound of four people who just wanna create great music getting together and making themselves happy.”

“Oh, sure, there’s pressure,” Jacob says when she’s asked about the sort of weight an unsigned four-piece in one of the most band-heavy corners of the globe feels. “I mean…there’s the challenge to musically outdo our last tape, the challenge of filling a club we’ve never played, the challenge of filling a club we’ve already played 15 or 20 times this year…”

“I’m actually pretty certain that a lot of that ‘pressure’ is kind’a self-made,” she laughs. “The truth is, though, if I could actually quit playing music, I really think I would. There are a million bands out there and it’s really tough trying to make your mark. The only way we’re gonna make it, is if we write music nobody else is writing (which is the whole point in the first place) and hope there’ll be enough people out there who are into it.”

“The big thing is that each and every show should be treated like a major event,” Jacob says with determination. “I don’t care if there’s 10, or a 110 people there, if we’re going to say ‘yeah, we’re playing this club or that club’ — well, then, it’s gonna count!”

For copies of Prosolar Mechanics’ clear vinyl 7-inch featuring “Impact” b/w “X Marks The Spot” or the 20-track Powerbunny 4x4 Compilation (Kitra II) that includes “The Body Spills,” contact Powerbunny 4X4 Records at:  PO Box 792, New Brunswick, NJ 08903. In addition, a cassette demo featuring “Water,” “The Exchange” and “Minor,” as well as the three previously mentioned songs, is available on a limited basis by writing to the band at: 23 Maple St., 3rd Floor, New Brunswick, NJ 08901.

Visit: http://www.promechx.com for news, photos, propaganda, gig information or to read the frequently updated mechanics log.

• Al Muzer has annoyed the hell out of readers of: The Music Paper, Live Wire, JUICE, AOL’s HUB, All-Star Magazine, Rock Brigade, Hits, The Musician’s Exchange, CDNow! and Consumable On-Line as well as those of The Aquarian Weekly and East Coast Rocker.