New Electric

New Electric formed a couple of years back from the ashes of Brian McBrearty (guitar) and Liam Hurley's (drums) previous band Rolo Tomase. Tired of working the jazz-heavy end of their musical knowledge, the duo enlisted the aid of Anthony Pirog on guitar and Oscar Rodriguez on bass. Oscar and Liam had previously worked together as members of hardcore-inspired Nakatomi Plaza (of whom Oscar is still a member and primary songwriter) and the more improv-based Bruce Lee. Although all four members of the nascent New Electric had done time in a jazz performance program in college, the initial practice sessions for this new project found the four pursuing heavier rock dynamics - the equally classic sounds of folks like Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, Neil Young, Led Zeppelin and Fugazi colored their music more than anything else, and allowed the quartet to dedicate their academically honed talents to pursuing bombastic drum fills, skyward guitar solos, blistering fuzzed-out riffs, and virtuostic bass playing. The end result is always complex in its composition, and yet beguilingly simple in its performance, as the band is bent more on making fluid, fist-pumping rock than showing off their skills.Bio written by Michael Crumsho