In the midst of chaos, often comes beauty.
Unfortunately, the Dark Brothers showed up instead.
Borne out of boredom and idle hands, three friends, with a combined musical pedigree that's longer than a babys' arm, had nothing better to do. Joe Puggle, founder and namesake of long running NJ tuneful thrashers, Puggle (along with a brief but tumultuous bid with the infamous Inger Lorre,) provided the initial impetus to get up off the floor and put one foot in front of the other. His distinctive, memorable songwriting and gritty vocals along with the ever-present Gibson provided a solid foundation.
Josh Silverman, best known as singer/writer/green guitarist of Shirk Circus (Bar/None Records), although he, too, served time with the aforementioned Ms. Lorre, brought in some new original songs along with the ever-present green Gibson. His voice, often compared to Elvis Costello, and songwriting proved to be the perfect yin to Puggle's yang. With songwriting and guitar playing taken care of, the next step was to find a rhythm section that would do justice to the strong set of songs.
The first and only drummer considered was John Steele, who was still involved in well-known garage favorites High School Sweethearts as a guitarist. John and Josh had previously played together in Johnny & the Has-Beens in the late 90s, releasing a well-received album, "Deadpool", featuring their late friend Anthony Trance on vocals and John Andersen (of Earth Pig) on bass. Now the only piece missing from this 3 way mutual admiration society was a bass player.
At the time the Dark Brothers came together, Joe was still playing with c.i. infidels- a 3 piece straight up punk rock band that featured an exceptionally strong bass presence in the form of the mysterious Jeff Gasher. An olive branch was passed on to Jeff along with a partridge and a pear tree and some demo recordings the band had begun as a 3 piece. Inspired by the quality of the songs, the great, rock solid drumming, and consistent nagging, Jeff came aboard and the band was complete.
Rehearsals and recording began at Homebrew Studios, in Belleville, NJ overlooking the scenic Route 21 (aka 'Highway To Hell') and the Passaic River. Rehearsals and recording continued. And they kept on going. After a ridiculously long period of time, the Dark Brothers debut, 'Karma Kills', was completed. It features a wide ranging set of material from the full on attack of 'Man Made Lines' to the bittersweet country of "Death Is Gonna Carry Her Away'. Some of the tracks are new versions of old originals, a lot of it is new, and there are several covers including an acoustic take on Cheap Tricks' "I Want You To Want Me" and a raucous version of local punk legends Bernies' Fixxx classic 'This May'.
After the album was complete, the band began to play live including several high profile shows at Maxwells in Hoboken (one of which is available for download at emusic.com) and a live set on free form radio station WFMU. The band really began to gel during this period and alot of new material was being introduced by both Joe and Josh. They decided that their next project would be done on analog tape (as opposed to the digital recording of 'Karma Kills') and that the tracks would be performed live with few overdubs. The studio of choice was Mix-O-Lydian in lovely Lafayette, NJ run by world class engineed Don Sternecker. With a huge live room, great old tube microphones, and 7 well rehearsed new songs, the band (with the help of Don) managed to capture their live sound and energy onto tape.
The long awaited result is the Dark Brothers '7 Steps To Enlightenment', featuring Joe's rowdy sing along 'To All My Friends', Josh's paranoid pop song 'Watching People', and five other 'steps' to help all the fellow seekers along their way. Come- follow the way of the Dark Brothers, listen, and be enlightened.
Om Shanti.
Om Shanti.
Om Shanti.
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