It's happening. We've spent a lot of time -- a few years, in fact -- eluding
it, but it's finally happening. No, I'm not talking about the National Guard
being sent to a godforsaken place halfway around the world. I'm talking about a
local band getting signed to a decent commercial label.
Donnybrook hasn't been around Providence long. About a year ago they, like
migrant farm workers looking for an orchard to pick clean, drifted down from a
mill town called Lincoln, Maine with 60 songs in their pocket and only a
handful of gigs under their belt. They were in search of whatever fame and what
little fortune was available in our humble little scene. Of course, it would
certainly be more than they'd come by up in Maine. Which was less than zero.
"In Maine, we kind of earned our name," says lead singer Josh McLaughlin, who
is one of three McLaughlin brothers in the sestet, with guitarists Jake and Jim
plus Joel Susen on bass, Jeremy Rankin on drums, and Matt Daigle on keys. "We
used to get in brawls all the time. We were a skateboarding band and most of
the other guys in town were jocks."
When they weren't brawling they were writing songs, believing that a good
repertoire would be their ticket out. There was only one club in town and they
shut it down, leaving Donnybrook with travel as their only option. They waited
for the last of their members to graduate high school and hightailed it outta
town. "We've known each other our whole lives," says Josh, "and we had this
plan for moving out. We wanted to do it together."
But why Providence? Why not Boston? "The only bands that ever went up to Maine
were bands like Shed and Kilgore," Josh explains. "That's how we made a
Providence connection, through some of those bands. Plus, we thought we could
get to a lot of places from Providence pretty quickly if we had to."
Donnybrook is, in fact, getting places pretty quickly. After playing a modest
number of gigs around town, mainly at the Living Room (props to Randy Hien),
they so impressed the right people that they recently hooked up with national
loud rock bands like Nothingface and Downset, two acts with which they have
upcoming shows scheduled.
Sonically, they have quite a bit in common with those heavy-minded acts, but
they also bring some unexpected elements into the Donnybrook mix. "The spine of
the band is heavy music," says Josh, "but we sort of branch off into other
styles. There's reggae in one song, swing in another, and some ska mixed in
there, too. We close our set with a song called `Poetic Tightfist,' where we
break down into Native American chants."
If it sounds contrived, it isn't. Donnybrook believes in merging their
influences into a single, hue-filled spectrum and, despite their upbringing in
smalltown Maine, they still managed to absorb lots of musical inspiration. The
new-ish presence of Daigle on keyboards also adds another layer, a surprising
texture to the surreal Donnybrook sound. "We're sort of a spiritual metal
band," says Josh, not referring to a specific religion. "We play what comes
from down deep and that means lots of sounds, different sounds."
People compare Donnybrook to Faith No More and System of a Down, two bands
they've been inspired by. Perhaps it's not the kind of sound that has
characterized Providence, but if we're lucky, it may be that one of our newest
musical guests will be the band that breaks our scene open. As it stands,
Donnybrook has attracted an immense amount of interest from labels like TVT and
Roadrunner, both of whom are waving contracts in the band's face. That interest
may result in more frequent visits from the industry population. Who knows?
"When we got to Providence it was lonely at first," says Josh. "But we were
determined. We gathered phone numbers and tried calling up clubs, and tried to
meet people, but we came up empty." Josh's story is typical for bands new to
the area. "But then we met up with Kilgore, Shed, Dave Leipzig, Randy at the
Living Room and things started taking shape. We went from playing at the Met in
front of two people to selling out shows."
They recorded an EP called Bleeding the Grain, in an attempt to capture
the unorthodox Donnybrook vibe. "It was a pretty rushed affair," says Josh. "We
recorded six songs in two quick sessions -- three songs in three days, then
three songs in two days in New York. That was all the money we had. But we were
pretty prepared going in and we just let it rip."
They had a tough time whittling down the 60 songs they had in their repertoire
to a measly half-dozen. But the songs they did end up with, like the raucous
opener "Radio Killed the Underground Star," the manic "Cold Confusion," and the
aforementioned "Poetic Tightfist," provide at least part of the picture. It's a
strong representation of a killer band with lots of upside and not much of the
opposite.
"Once we found the chemistry it all started coming together," says Josh. "In
Maine, we had lots of time to find it, and when we brought it to Providence, it
all just came together."
WANDERING EYE. Jonathan Stark hogs the spotlight tonight
(Thursday, 11/1) at Brewed Awakenings in Providence. On Friday at Area 22,
which is at the head of Broadway, #22, in Newport, the Psycads will try
to convince you it's OK to mix hard alcohol with beer, as well as psychedelia
with ska and rock steady, without suffering a migraine hangover. The show
starts at 10 p.m.
The Flaming Stars, featuring Max Descharne, formerly of the much-loved,
now defunct Gallon Drunk, will be at the Green Room on Sunday (the 4th) with
the Downbeat 5 (ex-DMZ) from Boston. The Stars have a fresh, heavily
cinematic garage punk sound that occasionally recalls Nick Cave with Morricone
undertones. The Hula Bomb DJs will fill the gaps.
E-mail your most intimate music information to b_gulla@yahoo.com.
Issue Date: November 2 - 8, 2001
