Portland: where DIY is still cool after you turn 21...
NW Noise Band Briefs
Band Briefs are short, and quick descriptions of artists, bands, concerts or albums.
Boy Eats Drum Machine
“I’ve Got A Turntable and a Casio…”
Sitting in the crowded confines of The Towne Lounge on April 7th, 2006 with Northwest Noise creator Tim Germer, I wondered what I was doing in a venue as big as my bedroom, waiting patiently to watch a musically inclined artistic creation I had just became intrigued with only a few weeks prior. The band carrying all this mystique is Portland, Oregon’s own electro/pop rock groovers Boy Eats Drum Machine.
One-man turntable master Jonny Ragel (vocals, turntable, guitar, synth) is now conjoined on the stages of venues all over the northwest with Ben Rickard (synth, guitar, vocals) and Peter Swenson (drumkit), creating a trio who is gaining notoriety within the northwest as a band on the rise who can get an audience out of their seats and out on the dance floor bobbing and weaving during their set.
What I really enjoyed within the bands live performance as well as their 2005 release Pleasure, is that Ragel and company bring some actual emotion embedded in the lyrics of one of their musical masterpieces. Listening to Boy Eats Drum Machine makes me realize that a DJ can control a crowd by not only getting them to groove to their turntable talents but also keep them focused through fun and often thought-provoking lyrics in the tracks performed.
Appropriately titled, their album Pleasure is just that, an incredible pleasure to listen to from start to finish. The release boasts 11 tracks of pure heaven where one unlistenable track cannot be found. I love listening to this record when I’m in the car or even when I’m trying to relax at home. Songs like Introduction B are hauntingly eerie while tracks like Eunuch and The Taste Of Your Mouth will have you bobbing your head in a way that’d put the Roxbury guys to shame. Other favorite tracks are the quirky Let’s Get Lost Sometime and the vocal gem Sometimes You Wanna Go Where Nobody Knows Your Name. Within the album, the blending from the worlds of pop, electronica, rock and a touch of funk are brought together in a very tightly woven package that should appeal to people of varying musical tastes.
Within a given day, there are many routine tasks we as humans must do in order to keep on going and survive. Making sure you include Boy Eats Drum Machine in your daily music-listening routine will ensure that you’ll musically survive day after day. I’d also highly recommend attending a Boy Eats Drum Machine live show at your local venue when they’re nearby as well. I’m glad I made the trip to The Towne Lounge to see the trio tear up the stage in song. It was one of the best live shows I’ve seen in recent memory, and the album Pleasure was a definite gold mine.
As the grail knight in the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade movie said, “You have chosen wisely.” Perhaps the grail knight somehow knew of Boy Eats Drum Machine, my eventual purchase of their record and my long-awaited evening of seeing the band perform live. Now YOU go out and buy the record and see a show from these independent musical marvels. You wouldn’t want to disappoint the grail knight, would you?
To find out more about Boy Eats Drum Machine please visit their website and you can also purchase their album at CD Baby or buy the album through the Itunes Music Store.
Band Members:
Jonny Ragel – Vocals, Turntable, Synth, Guitar
Ben Rickard – Synth, Guitar, Vocals
Peter Swenson – Drumkit
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