scandal in bohemia...

vis-cer-a
plural noun ( sing vis-cus /vis-kes )
the internal organs in the main cavities of the body, esp. those in the abdomen, e.g., the intestines.

vis-cer-al
of or relating to the viscera : the visceral nervous system.
- relating to deep inward feelings rather than to the intellect...

And those were the words that occurred as I listened at the Weathervane in Brattleboro Saturday night to this kick-ass little band from Keene, New Hampshire: Scandal in Bohemia.

Bear with me, I will never work for Rolling Stone as my musical knowledge is limited to catching up with the pop culture roughly ten years later: The Beatles in the 70s, Steve Miller in the 80s, Tears for Fears in the 90s. Right now I still groove on The Cure, and I hear this chick Alannis Morrisette has more than one Jagged Little Pill.

So my trip4good north is already paying dividends. Scandal in Bohemia has been around for two years. And it was only at the behest of Elder Brother that I got a chance out of the blue to give a listen to lead singer Seth Chatfield's plaintiff wailings in perfect symmetry to the wowwas & hawangs of Kalev Virks' guitar; the beatdown coming by way of Tim Mogavero's dead-on percussion even as Jen Mavris injected a moody undertone, with a touch of anger, on base.

Kalev dubs it "Art/Noise Rock," although the others, with no alternative label to apply, sort of shook their heads at that. And in retrospect, and having given a listen to the last CD they had that night, I kept hearing a little of...

The Cars... ?

Hmm, the Sex Pistols... ?

Is that... ? The Talking Heads... ?

Oh screw that nonsense! Here's what they have to say:

Influences
QOTSA, Sonic Youth, Pixies, Clash, Nirvana, The Kinks, Archers of Loaf, Sebadoh, Talking Heads, Guided by Voices, Joy Division, Dinosaur jr., Mission of Burma, At The Drive-In, Bauhaus, The Wipers, Herb Alpert and the Tiajuana Brass Band (great album covers)

Sounds Like
cyborg warfare in the space within your mind while falling out of a 27-story building into a pool of cold water filled with electric eels...in a good way

Okayyyy! I did catch The Talking Heads.

Ah, well, wish that I could wax eloquent on the impact these youngsters had on my psyche or, more appropriately, my abdomen (aye, a long winter already) but I can only summarize viscerally:

Scandal in Bohemia fucking rocks!

Check out their website.