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We released our latest work, the EP Echo Papa Zero One , in Fall of 2007. We have songs from that as well as one almost-finished new instrumental (featuring cool bass from Bryan Beller) up above.
And plenty of Cheesesteak Walleye ’s are still available at CDBaby: http://cdbaby.com/all/trianglex
There, you’ll find both discs, with reduced pricing for downloaded versions. We pass our savings on to YOU, valued customer!!
More Links:
iTunes
Virb Page
Last.FM
TX is a partnership spawned from the 2007 RPM Challenge . That February, Dave Bilsak, Doug Darrell, and Steve Wonchoba toiled to rekindle their musicianship to produce an album from scratch in 3 weeks.
After successfully completing the challenge, with the album aptly titled, The RPM Challenge Album, Doug and Steve decided to keep going - Dave already had a lot on his plate with his band, Blueprint For Destruction.
The result is the album, Cheesesteak Walleye, whose title reflects the two regions of the principles: Minneapolis and Philadelphia. The track list includes the RPM album, with some tweaks here and there; plus a few new tunes.
Musical styles? Lessee - we have the poppy/tongue-in-cheek Anna Gonna Miss Ya, a jazzy instrumental A Minor Desperate Measure, and some tunes that evoke a mix of jazz, progressive rock, and pop; such as The Foreigner and Chance Meeting.
Revenge Of The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Suite is a sort of homage to some of our favorite bands from the 70’s prog rock scene, such as Rush, Genesis, and Yes. It was inspired by the CNN.com story entitled "Robots Assist In Search For Ivory-Billed Woodpecker". In our 3-part tune, we envision the wily bird as a superior species bent on world domination. We also drew some inspiration from the Genesis tune Return Of The Giant Hogweed, attempting to tell an absurd story in the most pedantic way we could.
I edited my profile with Thomas’ Myspace Editor V4.4 and am not too proud to say so.
Hey Kids! Mildly interested in the music, but looking to avoid buyer’s remorse? Well then, read our reviews! They were written by Tim Jones of The Music Street Journal
Cheesesteak Walleye Review:
Triangle Exception
Cheesesteak Walleye
Review by Tim Jones
Cheesesteak Walleye is an eclectic collection of various sounds and songs. The sound quality isn’t as strong as it could be, but the songs are fun and interesting. A good portion of the album (the portion that Bilsak was involved in) was done entirely within a three-week period. Especially interesting is that Doug Darrell lives in Pennsylvania and Steve Wonchoba lives in Minnesota; they put together this album by emailing audio files to each other.
Triangle Exception is influenced by the likes of Genesis, Phish, Blues Traveler, and Todd Rundgren. On this, their first real album, Doug Darrell plays guitar, bass guitar, and vocals, and Steve Wonchoba plays the prominent keyboards, bass guitar, "drum prog," and vocals. Dave Bilsak makes an appearance and helps with the writing. In fact, for part of the album, he’s a full-fledged member of the band.
Track by Track Review
Second Ecstasy
Pretty keyboards are soon joined by drums, guitars, and bass. The same chords and melody repeat and build, and the music becomes a little harder. This song is a repetitive instrumental; it ends softly, with non-repetitive piano.
Anna Gonna Miss Ya
Drums start this one out. The title makes it sound like an old 50’s rock song...and that, indeed, is the style of this It’s fun stuff, with some definitely non-50’s guitar-play going on.
Chance Meeting
Cool guitars are the order of the day before it quiets down. Intentionally murky vocals sing against a subtle background of guitar and keyboards. The vocals alternate between a Simon and Garfunkel sound and alternative. There are lots of keyboards, including a solo. The music is reminiscent of early Genesis.
Schizophrenic
This is a good song. A good, catchy, chorus makes it similar to the almost-prog pop stuff of the 1980s. It’s unpolished (the vocals aren’t always as strong as they could be) but still a gem. Some fantastic guitars and drums support the vocals. It ends with repeats of the chorus and then a great guitar solo.
A Minor Desperate Measure
This instrumental starts heavy ..boards, with playful, moody guitars breaking in occasionally. Partway through, guitar takes over, and a very cool riff is repeated over and over. The two instruments close the song together, with the help of a simple drum beat. The band describes it as "jazzy."
The Foreigner
Keyboards start this one out simply. This is another good song; another 80’s almost-prog song. It has cool background vocals. They interrupt the song to experiment extensively with their instruments (ok, so in that respect it’s not like an 80’s almost-prog song).
Conformity
Slow drums and then hard guitars are joined by two layers of simultaneous vocals. The background vocals are a bit weak at first, but soon strengthen, and create an interesting contrast with the lead vocals. The guitars repeat the same chord sequence quite repetitively. This is very heavy on bass and guitars, and definitely the hardest song on the album. It ends with a long, drawn-out instrumental section.
Neon, Marooned
Cool distorted vocals start this one out. The song is then taken over by background spoken words, sometimes hard to hear over the guitars, drums, and keyboards. It concludes with a little more alternative-style singing and some interesting, experimental, proggy music.
Failed Geyser
Here we have an electric guitar instrumental with drums. It sounds like it’s entirely improvised. The simple drum contrasts with the crazy guitar.
Skippy O’Leary
First we get drums, and then the sound you’d expect with a song called "Skippy O’Leary." It has lots of old-time piano sound and rough blues vocals and is a fun tune.
The Revenge Of The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Suite
If the title didn’t somehow give it away, this is a prog song. From the Triangle Exception website (www.myspace.com/triangleexception): "It was inspired by the CNN.com story entitled ’Robots Assist In Search For Ivory-Billed Woodpecker.’ In our 3-part tune, we envision the wily bird as a superior species bent on world domination. We also drew some inspiration from the Genesis tune ’Return Of The Giant Hogweed,’ attempting to tell an absurd story in the most pedantic way we could." Guitars start this one out. It has a very early-Genesis sound, but the vocals are more 80’s almost-prog. It’s also (big surprise) the longest track on the album. It’s their homage to 70’s prog; it also happens to be one of the best songs on the album. Rush influences are very obvious during the instrumental section of the track. Sometimes, all that’s going on is pleasant vocals and pretty keyboards. Sometimes it’s just drums and guitars. A lengthy instrumental ends the song and the album.
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Echo Papa Zero One Review:
Triangle Exception
Echo Papa Zero One
Review by Tim Jones
This EP, like their first album, Cheesesteak Walleye, came out in 2007. It’s another eclectic collection of interesting songs, influenced by progressive rock and adult alternative rock. Band members are, again, Doug Darrell and Steve Wonchoba.
Track by Track Review
Live Aid ’85
This is a tribute to Live Aid ’85. Basically, it’s Triangle Exception playing bits and pieces of some of the songs with their own style. Short excerpts from a few songs are evident, including Phil Collin’s "In the Air Tonight." David Bowie’s "Modern Love."and Queen’s "Radio Ga Ga." The music alternates between alternative and progressive.
The Way She Loves You
A thoughtful song about a path taken in the past, it’s a fast-moving pop song, catchy and filled with keyboards. The keyboards get loud enough,at one time, to make them, instead of the vocals, the dominant instrument. The track ends with a little bit of guitar.
Fetid Felicity
This one is a bit satirical; the band meant it to sound like a modern teenage post-grunge song. Besides being very funny, it gives these guys a chance to try something in yet another genre. They describe it as "A song about a guy who has angst about having nothing to have angst about."
Self Parody
This was originally written by a guy named Joe Trainer and Doug Darrell. Darrell and Steve Wonchoba took it and played around with it. The intro is instrumental and very cool. The lyrics are fun, the fast-moving music leans towards progressiveness while the vocals lean towards alternative. A keyboard solo, followed by a guitar solo, interrupt the vocals.
Ball
Here is yet another genre. The vocals and background vocals are reminiscent of Barenaked Ladies, and the music sounds a bit like one of those old Nintendo games, at least when the electric guitar’s not intruding. The lyrics are very repetitive. A couple of nice guitar solos provide some relief to prog fans, and then the EP ends on a very nice, very progressive, very instrumental note.
