When a great pal tells me to check out a band that one of his bandmates happens to be in, I stop what I am doing and look for my headphones.
Heart & Lung is the band I speak of and thanks to Jeremy (most call him Rozco), I can not stop listening to these guys.
This four-piece pop-punk act hails from tropical Cleveland and has been doing their thing for a couple of years now. Featuring current members of Throw Shade and former members of The Fucking Cops, Let em’ Run, and The Public, it is safe to say that this band has plenty of rustbelt punk rock talent.
You Wanna Know the Truth is the band’s debut release and I must say, it is pretty damn impressive. Released independently, you’d think someone from an independent label would have scooped them up already (hint, hint to you label owners out there).
As far as the sound goes, think the energy of Direct Hit! mixed with the singing style of Say Anything, the memorable lyrics of Iron Chic, and glorious group harmonies of Masked Intruder.
As an avid Cleveland Indians fan, I certainly appreciated the opening sample with Hammy doing this thing on “Telecaster”. This opening track just has the band jumping right in and giving it their all.
“Hey Man” was kind of like a fun blend of Max Bemis and Masked Intruder, hence my previous comparison. This happy-go-lucky track is best played with friends. Nice job incorporating the band name into the lyrics by the way…
I am not sure what “1954” is all about, but I do know that is the year the Cleveland Indians went to the World Series. I also know that is the year the infamous Sam Sheppard supposedly murdered his wife. I appreciated the Cleveland pride and references throughout this jam.
“You Wanna Know the Truth?” was easily my favorite track off the album. The steady yet furious drumming, the piano playing, and just the honest chorus “you wanna know the truth? I’m fucking in love with all of you” pretty much did it in for me. Hearing the band profess enjoyment while on tour as well as their admiration for the great state they all hail from was all too intoxicating. The ending though…man, that was so perfect (you can check out the song below).
“Recession” was 50 seconds of the ups and downs of corporate America and the broke asses who live there. “Don’t Need You” was as you guessed it, a song about tacos from someone who is trying to diet furiously. I love tacos.
“The Sound” ended things in almost Weezer fashion sans the heavy repeating bass line. Hearing this song build up, explode, and just exhale with piano playing at the end put this album to rest in a good way (no pun intended of course). With lyrics about ending it all, carrying fear in doing so, and finally seeing someone looking back eliminating said fear, this wasn’t exactly a happy-go-lucky track.
My only complaint about this album? It clocked in at a whopping 27 minutes. 11 great songs, but I would have gone for a few more.
This Cleveland pop punk act has what it takes to turn heads and snag the attention of many. Don’t believe me? Check out what the bassist John’s sixth-grade students had to say about it…
I feel like I should have just started out the review with their quotes.
This band has been playing like crazy lately here in Cleveland as of late, most recently with Off With Their Heads, and I am excited to see what happens with them next. If you are looking for something new and fun, check these dudes out.
https://heartandlung.bandcamp.com/album/you-wanna-know-the-truth
https://www.facebook.com/heartandlungcleveland/
https://www.instagram.com/heartandlung/
It’s not every day that you hear a cover band sold out a venue on a Wednesday, but that is exactly what happened last night at the House of Blues in Cleveland.
New Orleans hardcore punkers Pears started the night off with a pretty insane set. Sadly, I think less than 10 people were really into them and the rest were just trying to get their place in the pit for the other bands on the bill. Those Pears fans did sing along to every single song and had a hell of a time. Vocalist Zach Quinn noticed this and at one time jumped out into the crowd to hang out with his fans.
Masked Intruder took stage with Officer Bradford, but there was a noticeable inconsistency. Red was missing. Apparently Red was serving time for picking pockets, but Big Luke Ferguson from Lipstick Homicide was filling in on drumming duties. Jarret Nathen from Pears actually filled in for one song too.
Officer Bradford did his thing throughout the set and at the end pulled a Har Mar Superstar and shed his uniform to reveal a singlet that showed off all of his manly curves. His stage charisma is like Ben Carr from The Mighty Mighty Bosstones in a sense, but far crazier.
The Gimmes took the stage just around 10pm to a packed house and started playing “Summertime” with Spike running onto the stage dressed to impress. From there, it was an all out party with the band dipping into their huge catalog of covers.
Bentley had me cracking up tons during the set. When it was not his turn to play, he would pretend to start playing, hesitate, make faces, and then jump into action. You could tell he really was enjoying the night. At one point when Spike was shamelessly putting in a plug for Rake It In: The Greatestest Hits album that just came out, a fan in the front row held up the LP and Bentley took it from him. The fan thought he was just going to hold it up for all to see, which he did, but then put it on the drum stage and left it there until after the set. He eventually gave it back, but not before Bentley told the fan he would have to buy another copy.
As a special treat, Spike performed a couple of times with a plugged-in ukulele including a song from his other band Uke-Hunt as well as an amazing, intimate cover of Madonna’s “Crazy For You” and also “I Believe I can Fly” with Shiflett playing a Hawaiian riff with eventually the rest of the band kicking in.
Cleveland’s Heart Attack Man originally was a solo project of guitarist/vocalist Eric Egan that soon turned into a band once Adam Paduch of Two Hand Fools took on drumming duties. The duo specializes in creating catchy ass jams that carries equal amounts of alternative rock and indie rock.
It goes without saying, sometimes you find yourself in the right situations by chance. Thanks to an amazing batch of pals who kept Dag House going for years. Not everyone gets to experience basement shows, and some of that could be by choice, but goddamn, if you are a music fan, basement shows are the best shows. Dag House threw together a hell of a rager for their last show, and I was happy to be a part of it. Thanks for the memories Dag.
