The Vegas Nerve

Item: Misery Loves Harmony
Author: Chris Brown

Misery Loves Harmony

(2003)

Reviewed by Chris Brown

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Label Cosmic Jukebox RecordsOpus2003

alternative rock comedy garage rock power pop

Originally published at Opus

I do not envy any band trying to make a name for themselves playing loose, grimy rock n' roll right now. With the media latched on to the garage rock movement as tight as they are right now, any move towards songs prominently featuring power chords and 4/4 rhythms is sure to get dismissed as yet another band jumping on the bandwagon and be filed away and forgotten.

This is a risk that The Vegas Nerve, purveyors of the aforementioned loose, swaggering rock n' roll fused with pop hooks, are sure to face, and unfairly considering just how long they've been banging around the underground.

Nerve frontman George Matamala isn't trying to re-write the rules of rock n' roll here, preferring to keep things simple. At times, his vocal delivery sounds as if he's channeling Aunt Bettys-era Mike Knott, who in turn was doing his very best to channel the Stones, while also bringing in the pop sensibilities of the hugely overlooked Poole. Matamala's backing band, including guitarist Steve Guiles of the also very overlooked Pushstart Wagon, is solid and engineers Eric Paulsen (whose work with John Williamson we've raved about here) and Andy Prickett (Prayer Chain, Cush) bring a lot of punch to the recordings.

Yep, there are a lot of other bands doing this but the Vegas Nerve do it pretty well, and here's betting that their live show is pretty killer.