"THE HOLY GOSPEL"
The standard process of starting a band does not usually revolve around already having a record out. This was, however, the case for Holy Boys Danger Club.
Holy Boys Danger Club are an independent rock and roll band featuring Michael “Miek” Rodrigue (Vocals, Guitar), Dan Capaldi (Drums), Nathan Cyr (Bass Guitar), and Zach Jones (Guitar). After botched attempts by Rodrigue to get the band going while at college with Capaldi and Jones, the project was put on hold until the making of the band’s first release, "Lessons For Liars". Despite being unveiled nearly a year after it was made, "Lessons", produced by Jonathan Wyman, was released to much praise from press and radio. A request to open for another band found Rodrigue and Capaldi reaching out to Jones and long time friend, bassist Nathan Cyr (also of The Lucid), who would round out the line up. A few rehearsals and a couple shows would solidify the chemistry within the quartet and undoubtedly confirm its existence as a band.
The boys spent 2009 writing songs, playing the many venues in their hometown of Portland, Maine, as well as traveling throughout the northeast. While the band became known for their unrelenting live sets, they decided to take a break from performing in November as they would return to Jonathan Wyman’s beloved Halo studio to craft their sophomore release, "The Boo Box". The EP not only introduces the world to the band’s official line up, but showcases the quartet’s growth both in the arenas of songwriting and harmonious live performance. "The Boo Box" finds the band exploring new sounds and refined song structures while continuing to craft muscular alternative tunes they’ve quickly become known for.
Holy Boys Danger Club will be releasing “The Boo Box” on March 2nd, 2010, and will celebrate the release at The Empire Dine and Dance on March 13th.
_____________________________________
PRESS
"10 BANDS TO WATCH" by Ray Routher (Portland Press Herald)
This indie rock band, with members all in their mid-20s, spent the last year or so “playing every club in Portland.” But they took time out last fall to record an EP with producer Jonathan Wyman, “The Boo Box.” The EP-release party will be March 13 at Empire Dine and Dance in Portland.
The EP showcases the band’s influences, from Queens of the Stone Age and the Replacements to My Morning Jacket. Band members include Nathan Cyr (bass), Michael “Miek” Rodrigue (vocals, guitar), Zach Jones (guitar, not the same Zach Jones featured elsewhere in this story), and Dan Capaldi (drums). For more information, go to holyboysdangerclub.com.
Top 10 EPs of 2009 by SAM PFIEFLE (Portland Phoenix)
Marie Moreshead, Birdwatchers
Grand Hotel, Grand Hotel
Holy Boys Danger Club, Lessons for Liars
The Goodnight Process, The Way Things Are
Pigboat, Nothing's Ever Finished
The Secret Weekend, Energy Broadcast System
Sidecar Radio, Dreadnaught Cosmonaut
Lost on Liftoff, The Brightside
Headstart!, A
Vik44, Was Never White
excerpt from "HOT, HOT HEAT" by SAM PFIEFLE (Portland Phoenix)
What else is on the horizon? ...HOLY BOYS DANGER CLUB have recently been in the studio with Jonathan Wyman... one has to wonder if they aren't the next big thing around these parts. Their debut EP showed a lot of promise, if maybe a lack of focus. Will a year's worth of shows and a return to Wyman's guiding hand mean a disc that lives up to the considerable expectations that stem from their Cambiata/Cosades/Dominic and the Lucid/Black Tie Affair roots? Early returns say yes, but you'll just have to survive the winter's cold to find out.
"DANGEROUS DEBUT" by Sam Pfeifle (Portland Phoenix)
Holy Boys Danger Club are a bit of a supergroup, featuring frontman Miek Rodrigue, who's been a sideman in Glory Trap, the Posters, and the Black Tie Affair, along with Dan Capaldi (there he is again!), and TJ Metcalf, who currently also plays with Lady Lamb the Beekeeper and was part of the excellent Cosades. Plus, here on their debut EP Lessons for Liars (seven songs, 30 minutes — three are over six minutes, plus there's a little secret track at the end) they get help from Spencer Albee on a couple tracks.
"City Kid Town" is the potential single, like a grittier early Springsteen — until the spacey keyboard-heavy bridge. Like most of the tracks here, it's original enough to be interesting but still has solid echoes of the past. "Kindest Regards" opens like a Spouse tune, heavy on the whiny guitar and breathy vocals, but finishes in a wide-open, crunchy jam, held together with a pretty melody line. "Criminal" is 12-bar blues, with a great organ backing and Rodrigue dropping the lyrics like they're bleeding from him: "Last night I was gonna kill a man, but my baby stole my gun."
Unlike some of Jonathan Wyman's more polished productions, he keeps things pretty loose here, to good effect. Sometimes they sound downright live — Neil Young and Crazy Horse live — and it completely works.
This is a young band (under 1000 plays on MySpace), but they've recently added Zach Jones on guitar and Nathan Cyr (Dominic and the Lucid) to play bass for live shows, and you'd be wise to keep them on your radar.