Damone
Posted by Tim Karan on 31-May-06 @ 02:40 PM|
HQ: Boston, MA
NOW PLAYING: Out Here All Night (ISLAND) WHY YOU SHOULD KNOW 'EM: : How many bands do you know who can back up pitch-perfect prom ballads with ballsy rockers and show enough panache to open for artists as stylistically far-flung as Bon Jovi and Less Than Jake? YOU LIKE? YOU'LL LIKE: The Runaways / the Donnas / Andrew W.K. Thank God Damone don't sound like Clay Aiken. Or Dave Matthews Band. Or the Strokes, for that matter. And while that simple fact is well and good--awesome, even--there's just one small thing: Those artists all experienced great success on RCA Records, something Damone tried--and failed--to do with From The Attic, their 2003 debut album for the label. "[RCA] wanted good things for us, but they had their priorities with American Idol," explains singer/guitarist Noelle LeBlanc. "It was difficult. They wanted to put us in a poppy market, and even though that record's very poppy and cute, we were like, 'We're tough, and we wanna be a rock band.'" Point taken. So, after gauging RCA's disinterest and debuting to a mostly tepid public response, Damone determined the arrangement wasn't working out and, after a year of negotiating their release from the label, became free agents--momentarily, that is: "We were so lucky," LeBlanc admits. "It wasn't like we quit or got dropped; it was a mutual thing, and the next day, we went to showcase for Island. That should never happen." After adding guitarist Mike Woods to compliment drummer Dustin Hengst and mono-named bassist Vazquez, Damone got to work writing and recording their sophomore album. However, during the sessions, Vazquez suffered a brain hemorrhage so severe that a priest was called to the hospital to read the bassist his last rites. Thankfully, Vazquez returned from the brink and went on to finish his tracks on Out Here All Night, a self-recorded affair that sheds the polite inhibitions of Damone's debut for bombastic choruses, Thin Lizzy-style harmony leads and unapologetic rock decadence. And though LeBlanc's relative youth (she just turned 20) can still shine through-"We were at the label, and they were like, 'We're gonna go up to Mr. Carter's office,' and I was like, 'Who's Mr. Carter?'" she says with a chuckle, in reference to Island Def Jam label head Sean "Jay-Z" Carter--she and her bandmates have had to grow up in a hurry. Here's hoping Damone's newfound maturity means the band won't end up picking fights in the press with labelmates. "We have the same management as the Bravery," says LeBlanc, laughing. "So when that whole thing with the Killers happened, we thought it was a really funny publicity stunt. When we realized it was real, Vazquez and I got the idea that we should do the same thing, but that we should plan it out. But there's no reason for any of that." Yet. --Tristan Staddon UNDER THE INFLUENCE What Album's Had The Greatest Influence On You? ""It goes without saying, because THE BEATLES have influence on everyone," says singer/guitarist Noelle LeBlanc. "But they are my favorite band. And REVOLVER is one of my favorite records. I mean, who isn't a fan?" ALT |
