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Punk/Rocker Jeremy Buck & The Bang
Hangin' With the High-energy Performer
The Mohawk Man bangs
out a punk and rock blend that attracts local fans.
He's punk. Punk with a bit
of funk, in fact, but other than plunging a stick through a drumhead
and tapping out a tune on a German WWII helmet placed on someone's head
in the audience, he's not exactly Sex Pistols crazy.
He just looks that way.
With a Mohawk that makes him at least appear to be extreme
skier Glen Plake with drum sticks, Jeremy Buck pounds his way to his
fans' spiritual soul with a kind of soft-punk-meets-rock-beat music.
And those fans love it.
"He's not just a good CD or studio musician,"
one mused prior to the release party of the new CD, Fool's Gold,
at a club in Hollywood.
"He's a great live performance artist. That's one of
the things that sets him apart."
At those live concerts – Buck plays primarily in
Los Angeles but tours in the Midwest and Japan and in the Spring of
'07 opened for Blues Traveler – he comes out with a bang. Well,
The Bang, actually, as that's the name of his band members. Jeremy Buck
and the Bang really bangs out the rock.
Bangers Joel (top
left) and Chris.
Buck is a bit different than many other band leaders in
that he plays not the guitar but drums. And he hardly bangs the drums
slowly. He doesn't so much play them as attack them. This
is the flash point for his high-energy performances.
He leaves lead guitar up to Chris Hannah, who also sings,
and the bass in the capable fingers of Joel Geist. It's a second talent
for Geist, who also produces the excellent music videos seen on TV screens
during Buck's performances.
Playing mostly original songs – mixed in with a sensational
version of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" –
Jeremy Buck and the Bang inspires with songs such as "Goin'
to California" new CD title track "Fools Gold"
and PubClub's favorite, the upbeat and energetic "Bang! Bang!"
The sound is somewhat reminiscent of the Stray Cats, though
more intense, fast-paced and, for lack of a better description, deep-throated.
 Attend
a Buck concert and the first thing one will notice is the constant smiles
on all the people listening to him. The guy is a fierce performer, expending
so much energy you almost expect him pass out when the set is finished.
When he's not tearing it up on the drums, he's doing it on the keyboard,
sweat building up on his forehead as if he's running in a track meet.
And that's about the pace he plays.
His resemblance to the heavy-haired Plake - minus the
multiple colors – is an apt comparison. For it's easy to imagine
launching off the face of a hill for a ski run or attacking knee-deep
powder to the tunes of Buck and the Bang.
Buck's appearance also adds a bit of mystique to the sound.
While he looks somewhat intimidating and difficult to approach, he's
in fact an Indiana farm boy who has never lost the politeness of his
Midwest upbringing. Apparently, he reserves the radical stuff for the
instruments.
Or, in the words of band publicist Bill McCoy, "he's
not as nuts as he looks."
No, he just plays that way.
Buck does not bang
the drum slowly; it's just not his style.
Jeremy Buck and the Bang performs regulary at the Lighthouse
Cafe in Hermosa
Beach, CA. CDs can be purchased thru their website, .JeremyBuck.com,
and more information, along with sample songs and videos, can be found
on the band's MySpace
page.
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