reviews

Reviews of split cd - Landspeedrecord! & Prosolar Mechanics - Urban Development Series, Vol. 4 (ambiguous CITY!)

Baltimore's LandSpeedrecord are an eclectic mix of strong rhythm guitar and harmonious vocals accented by synthesizers, creating a sound that is both conventional and slightly quirky. The five songs here hum along at a crisp pace, and lyrically, the tracks are a pleasure, particularly "Best Revenge" and "Secret to Win," both of which show off the skills of vocalist Charley Jamison. The band sounds equally cohesive on "Visiting Hours," a typically uptempo anthem that kicks off this split release. The band shows a more experimental side with "Neophobes," a noisy, more off-kilter track that solidifies the split personality of the act. Prosolar Mechanics features the beautiful female vocals of Amy Jacob, as she is out in front of a band that plays a sturdy, rollicking brand of noisy guitar rock. "The Future of Sex" was the most powerful of the songs here, as her soothing vocals melt within a swirling ball of guitar and drumming. Conversely, "Red Down the Middle" is a sultry effort that is built around Jacob's warm tone and a subdued melodic hum, which morphs into a bass-heavy mid-tempo track that has a feel that matches the earthy lyrics. The speedy "Sender" was born to rule the airwaves of college stations everywhere, and has enough accessibility to allure some bold programmer into giving it a spin. There is something so easily likable about this band. Prosolar Mechanics are the complete package and deserve huge exposure.

A split record featuring Baltimore's Landspeedrecord and New Jersey's Prosolar Mechanics. This record starts off with local boys Landspeedrecord who play just alternative rock sound that gives off a DARK (Boston) to a very PETE SHELLY feel, that's very 80s-ish with an amp-cranking feel. While on the Prosolar Mechanics cuts you get 4 songs of pure coolness. This female fronted band also have hints of the 80s in their sound with sort of a new alterna-rock buzz add in. But Amy's vocals give off a sinful LETTERS TO CLEO, MARTHA AND THE MUFFINS to even BRASSY (without the hip-hop feel), added to THE WAITRESSES. Sounds great at any level. Very Good.

On the Prosolar Mechanics half of the disc, what deceptively sounds like basic angular new wave is something a bit more intriguing. Amy Jacob's vocals swim eel-like through the din, bounding between soft and rough. She seethes a nice-ugly screed that recalls early-'80s post-punk: Languid bass and staccato drums provide the winding spine off which guitarist Alex Saville's textural work radiates. It's the sort of arty affair that San Diego's Swell Maps-leaning Gogogo Airheart and San Francisco's girl gnarl Erase Errata have been cranking out with a bit more gusto. But PMX sounds like it's still feeling out its approach, with room to grow.

Landspeed Record/Prosolar Mechanics -split Cd - This is Vol 4. in a series of splits from AmBiguousCity records Urban Development Series and it's a winner. Landspeed opens up the show with good ole SST, husker du inspired, style rock. Plenty of politcal savy, envy and guitar riff intent to keep music snobs on their toes or be gone with their ability to note a toe tapper when the songs says Go. Denser and darker comes the space music of Prosolar. If you are looking for that next female vocal to win you over Amy has got the most powerful and enchanting voice to take you where few space music travellers have been. All tracks stand out. Just order your copy today and you will thank us.

Your Diva says: Split CD by Baltimore's prickly Landspeedrecord! and New Brunswick/ Highland Park's Prosolar Mechanics opens with a scary visit to a friend "resting comfortably" in an asylum. Landspeedrecord! tells quick, complex stories over jangly guitars and dreamy mechanical noise; boiling emotion in an industrial world. Prosolar Mechanics's raging guitars, thunderous drums and Amy's soft voice suggest evil moving through shadows, everyday violence one should've seen coming. Gorgeous, unnerving nightmares and difficult truth throughout. On ambiguous CITY! records, www.ambiguouscity.com.

New Jersey's Prosolar Mechanics hit the indie nerve on their seven track disc, but there's much more to this quartet then what goes on in the garage. Their PJ Harvey meets Nirvana rock swirl, complete with dissonant chords and a slew of low ended rhythm, is sure to make some uncomfortable, yet can just as easily create a mosh pit. Imagine a heavier version of Garbage ("Dive") or Hole without the rock star slut pretense ("Heaven Grand") and what you've got is a pretty intense outfit. If you're the type who likes to rock out and still retain brain capacity, you should check Prosolar Mechanics out.

Introspective, affected female vocals careen over dark melodic dissonance. Driving rhythm section, sometimes-twangy, sometimes-distorted guitar assaults, and catchy choruses bring home the bacon.

So, a few months ago a friend of mine found this band totally by chance on the Internet and told me how great they were. "Yeah, right" was my first response. I have found that there are so few good bands out there that the likelihood of finding good ones is incredibly slim, but when you do find worthy stuff, man what a thrill. Needless to say, Prosolar Mechanics are that fucking good.

Hailing from New Brunswick, NJ this band strains out the most powerful space age rock that I have heard in many moons. Obvious gearheads, they meld together a little traditional guit-rock with the occasional, well-produced, (cleverly hidden?) drum machine sounds. Well, if it's not drum machines on Body Spills, then more power to 'em, because, damn, those drums rock a la Pigface, Ministry, and maybe even RevCo. I wouldn't draw the comparison to the preceding bands in any other way though. Maybe more of a heavy, less dated Siouxsie and the Banshees.

X Marks the Spot spirals in with big ol' chords, grooves in the pocket and busts wide out for ye olde stompy boot chorus. Impact, the sleeper hit of the bunch, totally snuck up on me. Its quiet grace and atmosphere really pushes the ante up on the pot of well-written songs.

The singer, Amy Jacob, has the chords to back up the fury - and I'm not ordinarily a big fan of what is usually passed of for fem vocals. Only rarely does the female race do anything for me vocally (see Silverfish, Dead Can Dance, Liz Phair, and Melt Banana for the true greats, IMHO). Great gobs of swirling guitars leech the guts out of you, and the rhythm section keeps time as well as your Timex before it's smashed by the heaving thump of it all. Prosolar astounds with songwriting that puts bands that DGC and Sony try to pass off as good to shame.

I keep finding great bands in New Jersey (see Ex-Models). Makes you wonder what the fuck all those bastards from NYC are complaining about. I only have 4 songs right now, but word has it that they have put out a full-length, ORDER IT NOW!

Prosolar Mechanics/ Teenbeaters/ Dismemberment Plan Live Review
Maxwells, Hoboken, NJ - July 2nd 1999

This show was probably the best show of the summer for me. PMX were in their best shape and played tunes from their debut full length Turn On which envelopes gothic-punk space guitar stomp sewed together by surreal vocals lines. If NJ had an official awards ceremony, like the spammys, PMX would win the Best Area release this year. Maxwells was pretty packed and I can't imagine the energy that would of been happening if mechanic Amy had her other limb working that night so she could play here own guitar. I know she didn't feel right about it, and even felt a little outta wack. But the show must go on ..They had Shah from the Ex-models sitting in on guitar due to Amy's messed up back/arm. Definitely their best set to date for me or at least until I see them again. Next were the trio Teenbeaters, who rocked out their weird version of robin Hytchcock hybrid Buzzcocks rock. I became an even bigger fan than before. Sweeping up were the dismemberment plan and in all fairness, I was pretty pooped and saw only about 6 songs. Being a first timer for them I left with the impression of a band who uses keyboards very well , while still holding on to that DC level of performance and leaving far behind anything from the 60's like Make-up. If Mr. Bungle were straight that would be The DP. -du

PROSOLAR MECHANICS - Turn On (Powerbunny 4x4 Records, PO Box 792, New Brunswick NJ 08903) There are only seven songs on Prosolar Mechanics' debut CD (and a bonus rehearsal-tape track that sounds nothing like the rest of the album). You might as well as say that there are "only" seven continents, or seven dwarves, or seven seas. Seven songs, each beautifully crafted, impeccably arranged, unique and special, each with its own range of rhythms, dynamics, guitar sounds, bass lines, and samples, the one unifying thread being Amy Jacob's stunning vocals. On a personal note, it should be made clear that I regard the members of Prosolar Mechanics with enormous respect and affection. But objectivity isn’t the issue here; excellence is. Every little touch seems inspired, from guitarist Alex Saville’s cranky, grumbled background vocals, which serve as a brilliant counterpoint to Amy’s keening melodicism on "Cosmopolitan," to the explosive drum sounds from Dave Reynolds that launch "Heaven Grand," to Mike Kabok's resoundingly funky yet otherworldly bass solo that kickstarts "Dive," to the eerie electronic sounds that infuse "Impact." This is not your local neighborhood indie rock band, boys and girls. These are Prosolar Mechanics, on a mission to strengthen the life-force of the masses through sounds and ideas, and keep the forces of complacency, greed, and entropy at bay. May the force be with them. (Powerbunny 4x4 Records, 115 south 7th ave., highland park nj, 08904), or visit the Prosolar Mechanics webpage.

Space is big. So is the sound of Prosolar Mechanics. Bigger than me, at least. When we're flying the space shuttle to our vacations on Mars, this will be the in-flight music.

The Mechanics bring a feel and a sound influenced by the bands listed below, but altogether their own as well. And like all the greatest bands, they've created their own little reality in which to dwell.

Minor - My least favorite song of the bunch, but still very good. Just not as good as the rest, but it begins to grow on you. Starts out a little slow, but picks up the pace and intensity and really builds to a climax with the chorus.

X Marks The Spot - Blasts off quickly and doesn't slow down. A driving guitar line powers this song and never misfires. Lead singer Amy Jacob is on top of her game in this song.

Impact - A muscular, bruising chorus of this song beats you about the head. When they ask "What strange sail has brought you here?" you feel compelled to answer.

The Body Spills - No matter how good the other songs are, this is THE song. With THE line, one of the best I've heard in a long time. It surprises you; the song is a dense wash of guitar, drum and vocal, melody and dissonance all at once. And after this wall of sound, complete silence, and Jacob singing by herself, completely naked to the world. "Longevity breeds / A generation of names / It's so punishing to let go / To let go and stay the same." And then the other instruments come back in, one at a time. Before you know it, you're flooded by the massive sound again. You don't just listen to this song, you experience it. Remarkable. Download immediately.

You can find "The Body Spills" and "Impact" at mp3.com, and all of the songs are available at their own creative and informative website, the Prosolar Mechanics Information Hub.

If you like Wire (earlier works), Sonic Youth, Swervedriver you'll like this band.

(We don't know who the author is -- it's damn embarassing. If you do please write to us so we can give her/him credit..pmx)

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...the future sounds of Prosolar Mechanics continues...

Al Muzer for East Coast Rocker- October 14, 1998

Prosolar Mechanics' just-released, clear vinyl 7" features a radio-ready slab of angst-pop genius known as "Impact" and a swirling, swerving, freakishly driven, damn-near essential brood-pulse ball-buster called "X Marks the Spot." Both tunes are yours by writing to Powerbunny 4X4 Records, PO Box 792, New Brunswick, NJ 08903. In addition to their latest wall of pop-based, Sonic Youth-aware, carpet-of-sound think, mega-melt guitar-barrage, P-Mech drummer Dave Reynolds (ex-Urchins, Spiral Jetty), bassist Mike Kabok (Clay Idols), guitarist/vocalist Alex Saville (ex-ExVegas), and vocalist/guitarist Amy Jacob (ex-ExVegas) have thrown down the gauntlet and are double-dog daring you to visit their spiffed-up web site located at http://www-rci.rutgers.edu/~amjacob. Snail mail the band c/o 23 Maple St., 3rd Floor, New Brunswick, NJ 08901.

For this issue I decided to delve into the "behind the sounds" makings of three different songs by local favorites Prosolar Mechanics. With a mixture of formats (both CD and vinyl) and approaches (low cost 8-track and big budget studio) there should be a good deal of material to explore here. Here we go...

Oh. My. God. Quit your job. The incredible wall of guitar noise, big big drums and hypnotic vocals Prosolar Mechanics puts out - a new reason to live! In particular, "Habit" goes right for the jugular, and you LIKE it. Amy Jacob's singing, "it's your fault, it's your fault," overthrobbing bass and under stinging guitar is almost too much fun. My personal favorite is "the Body Spills" - hint: if I had a record company I'd beg Prosolar Mechanics to sign with me.

Amy Jacob says she has Joan Jett to thank for Prosolar Mechanics. It's a long, convoluted story, says the girl with the green guitar who fronts the four-member band, but here are the highlights.

Amy Jacob and Alex Saville compare their guitar work to an orchestra's string section, rather than to the standard rock format of lead guitarist and rhythm guitarist.

"It often feels like we're writing one part instead of two," Saville said. "Amy and I have played together for so long that we often don't feel right uless we can hear the other's guitar too."

In Prosolar Mechanics, the New Brunswick duo's latest band, the guitars sound almost woven together. Jacob and Saville's affection for Sonic Youth - prominently displayed in the music of their last band, ExVegas - remains apparent. Dissonance and distortion run through every song.

But Prosolar Mechanics also gives plenty of room to its rythm section. The drumming of Dave Reynolds, formerly of the Urchins, and the bass playing of Mike Kabok, formerly of the Los Angeles-based Clay Idols, create up-tempo beats that are vaguely danceable. Jacob's vocals are more prominent and less hazy than her work in ExVegas. The emphasis on vocal melody and the surge of energy from Kabok and Reynolds fuel the "string section" and give the music a smart, contemporary feel.

"Mike's bass uses more effects than other bassists we've had," Saville said, "and that, combined with Dave's Motown-influenced drumming, allows us to do a lot of sonic guitar work without sounding overly heavy."

Prosolar Mechanics open for the British band Big Mouth tonight at the Saint in Asbury Park.

Prosolar Mechanics are featured on "Kitra 2," a compilition on the New Brunswick label Powerbunny, and the band also plans to release a single this spring.

Alex Saville and Amy Jacob of ExVegas team with veteran New Brunswick drummer Dave Reynolds (Spiral Jetty, Urchins) and newcomer bassist Mike Kabok in this new group. The sonic guitars, thobbing funk bass and provocative vocals on this 3-song demo suggest Thurston Moore jamming with the Bush Tetras. "X Marks the Spot" teams with paranoia and mystery; something about Vince Foster's body, from what I can hear. Stay tuned, this powerful group should be a major player in the New Brunswick scene by the end of summer.