Lineup: Elliot Brown, Davey MacGregor, Evan Posey, Owen Staley. Featuring Members Of: Manger, Kill the School. Influences: Thin Lizzy, Motörhead, Saxon.
When so many modern bands rely on gimmickry and trend-hopping in the quest to make a name for themselves (only to inevitably fizzle out when whatever they’re aping is no longer in vogue), it’s refreshing to discover a group that pays no attention to the flavor of the week. Gear Jammer is a loud, proud anachronism: two guitarists, one bass player and a drummer. Hot riffs. Yelping, stadium-ready vocals. Deathly serious four-on-the-floor rhythms. Rock. And. Roll.
The band explains its mission: “[Our] music aims to evoke the freedom of the endless highway—the limitless adventure of the open road.” The group employs a strict reading of this theme; even the name itself is highway-inspired (a “gear jammer,” in CB-speak, is a truck driver). Indeed, the group’s propulsive, often pummeling jams inspire mental images of wide-open asphalt: vintage visions of Highway 66 in the heat-soaked summertime, sepia-toned snapshots of plains, drifters and all that cinematic stuff.
Gear Jammer wears its ’70s heart on its sleeve, drawing easy comparisons to groups like Thin Lizzy and ZZ Top at their hardest-rocking. But there is a distinctly modern edge at work, an intangible hint of irony buried among the unabashedly earnest hero worship.
In a potential homage to its pre-Internet musical icons (or, more likely, because the project is so new), Gear Jammer is all but invisible online. Visit www.facebook.com/wearegearjammer for updates.
Next Show: July 7 @ Caledonia Lounge
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