Rock Bandits stay true to classic roots
“My goal is to be a rock and roll engineer,” Tanner Lex Jones said.
Jones, a junior electrical engineering major, is a songwriter/guitarist with two performing outlets-as a solo artist and as a member of the Rock Bandits. Whether Jones is with the Bandits or solo, his music is a throwback to classic rock songwriting-with solid guitar riffs to match his lyrical hooks.
The Rock Bandits-which include Jones on guitar, Marcus Stevens on bass, Todd Johnson on drums and Eric Peatross on keyboard-are the outlet for Jones’ more rock-oriented material. Stevens, a senior history major, said the band is trying to pioneer “bandit rock,” which they define on their Web site as 2 ounces rock and roll, 1 ounce funk, with a dash of alternative rock (plus a little psychedelic rock).
While Jones is the group’s songwriter, he said the songwriting process is often very collaborative. “On the most powerful songs, the whole band has contributed creatively,” he said.
The band members said their biggest influence is Led Zeppelin and they hope to bring a similar classic-rock jam sound to their band. “Music on the radio today is so crappy and overproduced,” said Johnson, the band’s drummer and a sophomore music therapy major. “There is no one today like The Who, Zeppelin and Cream, who just plays with raw talent.”
The members say the band has matured a lot in the two years they have been together, and they said they feel they have now found their unique sound and are coming together as a band, particularly with the addition of Peatross on the keyboard. Johnson said having him on keyboard and sharing vocals with Jones has added a new element to the band and made their sound more interesting.
The Rock Bandits are currently completing the recording of their second CD, which they plan to release this summer. Their songs remain very rock-oriented, although they have incorporated elements of funk music on many of their songs with Jones’ guitar and Stevens’ bass.
While Jones’ work with the Rock Bandits is firmly grounded in the classic rock tradition, his solo work is more folk-influenced and, at times, more experimental. Jones said his solo work is more lyrically oriented and diverse than his work with the Bandits.
His most recent CD, “Alta,” features mostly acoustic folk-rock, although it mixes in other different sounds as well. “Crush-o-Meter” is reminiscent of “Another Side of Bob Dylan”-era with its strummed rhythm and unusual imagery to describe a budding romantic interest. The excellent “Vacuum Time,” also a standout song for Jones live, is an acoustic blues-rock song with soulful vocals about a relationship that will work out “like a lazy Sunday afternoon.”
Other songs use muffled vocals and varied rhythms to create more musically and lyrically eccentric songs. “Ultimate Control Button Heist” uses feedback, distant vocals and an echoic keyboard loop. “Ahoski Rag” has a carnival ragtime feel that lies somewhere between the more bizarre elements of They Might Be Giants and Tom Waits.
Jones’ thick beard, soft-spoken voice and humble manner give him an unassuming appearance for a rock performer. However, he comes alive as he performs a song, moving with the beat and singing confidently. At last semester’s Guitars Unplugged performance, where he was named best artist, he even concluded his performance by jumping off of the stage.
“I want to see people dancing in the crowd,” Jones said, “because I’m dancing on stage.”
Jones also plans to release his next album in the fall or summer of 2007. You can listen to a sample of Jones’ solo work or the Rock Bandits online at their Web pages on MySpace.com. Jones’ solo CD is also available for purchase by contacting him. The Rock Bandits will play at the Rehab Your Planet, Intensive Music Therapy concert next Wednesday at 8 p.m. in the TSC Auditorium.
Tom Liljegren is a music critic for The Utah Statesman. Comments and suggestions of future artists to profile
can be sent to him
at tliljegren@cc.usu.edu.