Last night, on Chicago's north side, Whistler club hosted the amazing Vee Dee. It was a benefit to support the Chicago Independent Radio Project, which is a progressive movement to bring a low power FM community radio station to the city. We need to encourage Congress and the FCC to allow more citizens access to the airwaves.
The year was 2004, that I stumbled upon Vee Dee. At first glance, this trio looked like a psychedelic throwback to the late 1960s San Francisco scene. Within a few songs, the garage-punk vibes had folks pogo dancing. On closer examination, they were mixing punk and psychedelia... acid punk!
Vee Dee is led by chief songwriter Nick D'Vyne on guitar and lead vocals. I have never seen Nick play any other guitar than his 1966 non reverse firebird. On bass and vocals is Dan Lang. His bass is loud, heavy, and intensifying. Nick and Dan do choruses together that have a hypnotic enthusiasm. Ryan Murphy completes the trio on drums. He pounds away like it's his last show.
Vee Dee has evolved on their three albums. They were all over the music map last night. Some bands like AC/DC, Ramones, and Motorhead did one thing. They did that one thing so good that they just kept on doing that one thing. We have learned to love them for that one thing. However, I believe there is plenty of room for bands to experiment with different sounds that bounce all over the music spectrum. I remember seeing Vee Dee when they released their second record, and there was one song that sounded like "Are You Experienced" by Jimi Hendrix. Another song reminded me of Blue cheer, and then another reminded me of the MC5. The new record has overtones of Black Sabbath. It's all good!
I was always annoyed by that stupid notion that pre-punk and post-punk were worlds apart. "Out with the old and in with the new" made no sense to me. Rock 'n' roll's family tree is a long chain of genres that each added a new coat of paint to the art form. In 1977, the punk revolution said "to hell with corporate control of music!" But that did not mean that the roots no longer mattered. In 2011, I am glad to see that there is a new breed of music fan that can dig it all.
Everything comes full circle eventually. Vee Dee borrows from the past to complete the full circle, and with some twisting of notes, these vibes become new again. In the mist of Vee Dee's garage-punk attack, they took a turn back to the blues, drifted off into dimensions of psychedelia, did some head banging, and then finished with some vibes that could only be classified as rock 'n' roll.
Call your member of Congress and ask them to cosponsor the Local Community Radio Act. congress.org
Write to the FCC and asks them to prioritize low power radio stations programmed and managed locally over "translator" signals that only carry distant network programming. fcc.gov/contacts.html
Visit chicagoindieradio.org
Listen to CHIRP Radio now!
http://www.chirpradio.org/
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