I was born in Minot, North Dakota and i've lived in Minneapolis for 9.7 years. I'm married to a lovely young lady. Her name is Andrea. She's not only once or twice a lady but actually three times. My favorite new person was born on April 8th. His name is Henry Franklin Leet and he likes the Beatles. I know, you're impressed right? I'm also in a fantastically smooth rock n' roll band called High on Stress.
HIGH ON STRESS REVIEWS
Musician "in on the joke"
A review of High on Stress
-- Bob Longmore
Metro State University
I moved to Minnesota in 1997. More precisely, I moved to northeast Minneapolis to a duplex with three roommates. A beer soaked, tumultuous time in my mid-twenties; I will always have a place in my heart for the dark, dingy Northeast bars. The Premium on tap and the old-timers perched on their barstools; the no frill rock and roll I found in the clubs and in the record stores; that Minnesota sound: Equal parts earnestness and attitude.I first found High on Stress at one of those Northeast bars. Maybe that is part of the reason they bring me back to those days when I was first learning the streets of the Twin Cities. They have that sound I love. There are no overproduced hollow vocals, no electronic blips and beeps, no filler; they are what rock and roll sounds like in my head when I think of rock and roll. Their sound hovers somewhere between Paul Westerberg-influenced rock and Son Volt-inspired alt-country.Many of the songs on their album Moonlight Girls could have been the soundtrack to my Northeast years. Like on “Cash Machine†where Leet sings about the internal strife that scraping by month to month can cause:Where’s it go, when the money’s gone? Try to figure out where the hell I went wrong Half is spent before you pay the rent Half is spent before the money’s sent Don’t it make your blue eyes red?Leet is honest and open when he talks about the time in his life that inspired these songs. Having just left the band he was in for seven years and breaking up with his girlfriend, he found himself in a low place. "I moved into a studio apartment by myself and ate a lot of McDonald’s, slept on the floor and played solitaire. For the first couple of months, I barely touched my guitar."He eventually did regain his musical ambition. "[I] started to write songs about how I was feeling about the end of the band situation and the constant on-again, off-again relationships [with the band and his girlfriend]." Around this time, two friends of Leet’s died in a car accident. Leet was scraping by just to pay the rent. "There was really just a lot of crap going on in my life at the time."Leet is from Minot, a town he refers to as "a dead-end street for a lot of music lovers or job opportunists." On the song "Minot" he sings,This is an ode to cover bands Bad punk rock And a town I can’t standI can sympathize with the desire never to go home, with the feeling that here in Minneapolis is where I belong—where I should have been all along.Of course, there are pervasive themes of lingering heartbreak and heartache. On "No Such Thing as an Easy Break," Leet attempts to make peace with his demons — a peace that is necessary just to move on:Can't say I didn’t see it coming Doesn't make it hurt any less She says, "I still love you Just not the way that you want me to" She says she still cares But how am I supposed to feelThen Leet lets go with the punch line that every self-doubting person on the bad end of a breakup repeats in their head as they replay the events, "She said that all along."On "Gold Star," the lyrics reflect the instability of life. Set against an organ-laden bed of countrified melancholy, Leet sings:Sometimes you have to let go To find out what you're looking for With your car crash romances And a year in reviewAnd then, having talked to the band and after seeing them live, the line that I think sums up their attitude, "You come to expect it / The dark comedy of love and life."Leet, as the front man, has the skill and passion to pull you into his world of women, booze and desperation; but at the same time, has the lightheartedness to laugh between the songs, to let the audience know that he is in on the joke too. The joke: That life sucks a lot of the time. But there are things that make it worth living, like singing in a rock and roll band.
I know what youre thinking, does the Twin Cities scene really need another melancholy country-tinged rock band? Well, in most cases I would agree with you and say no, but as long as new groups like High On Stress keep popping up out of the woodwork its clear that the local well in this particular musical area is far from running dry. With local ace producer Jon Tranberry (Valet, Plastic Constellations), handling bass duties in the group it comes as little surprise that High On Stress debut album, Moonlight Girls, sounds perfectly polished, but what makes it all worthwhile is that front man Nick Leets alternately gritty and pretty songs live up to the productions high standards. High On Stress mark yet another welcome addition to the already burgeoning local alt. country scene. Rob van Alstyne - Pulse of the Twin Cities
and City Pages says...
Nick Leet is the primary songwriter, and he comes up with some lyrical nuggets, as on the opening track, "You Have Conversations with Jesus." "You're a freight train with understated makeup," Leet sings of a former girlfriend. The clever, enigmatic lyrics of "Eyeliner Blues" provide evidence that the band's been taking notes while listening to their Paul Westerberg records. "Cash Machine" is the catchiest track here, with its shout-along chorus, reminiscent of A.M.-era Wilco.High on Stress make rare, but effective use of the distortion pedal, putting a felicitous charge into tracks such as "Postcard that Says Breathe." There are other welcome, unexpected flourishes throughout, like the organ jam at the close of "Sleeping in the Backs of Cars" and the banjo fills (courtesy of guest Mike Brady) on "1995."But the track that puts this album over for me is "Minot," an irresistible poison-pen Valentine to North Dakota. "This is an ode to cover bands, and bad punk rock, and a town I can't stand," Leet snipes. More than a few small-town transplants will find the sentiment familiar.
and a review from the Netherlands...
Minneapolis is an amazing music city. The history of pop has proven that. But it's not only a matter of history. Golden Smog has a new cd coming out in late spring, Stook has given us a great album lately and High On Stress is also getting itself in the spotlight. High On Stress - a band name which doesn't represent it's sound- is a quartet that formed in 2003. The main man is singer, guitarist and songwriter Nick Leet, who's accompanied by a guitarist, bass player and drummer. The sound of the band makes you think of early REM and bands from that era: Connells, Miracle Legion and the Chant. HoS has a rootsy twangy pop sound that's been put to good use on the debut album "Moonlight Girls". The first track "You Have Conversations with Jesus" sounds exactly like REM with it's ringing guitars and further on in the album there are more mid-tempo rockers, influences by the Replacements and early Wilco come through. Leet writes beautiful catchy songs like "Eyeliner Blues", "Gold Star" ala Camper Van Beethoven, "My Former Life on the Cutting Room Floor" and the swagger of "Sleeping in the Backs of Cars". Very recommendable for people who like poppy roots-rock or rootsy pop rock. You can buy the cd at cdbaby or miles of music.
Buy our debut album Moonlight Girls @ CDBABY TODAY!!!
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Request "Cop Light Parade" by my band High on Stress at the Current 89.3 FM
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