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Thunderbleed A.K.A. Blind Vengeance
On the Web site for Thunderbleed A.K.A. Blind Vengeance -- www.geocities.com/thunderbleed/ -- guitarist Gary Galileo lists his favorite new music as "Betty by Helmet and anything by Tool, but most everything else sucks, especially techno." That's the exegesis of the 'bleed right there: Totally stuck in the past (Betty came out in 1994) and unrepentantly rockin' your face. This East Bay powerhouse formed in 1998, making the most of unfortunate circumstances. Before a picnic show in El Sobrante, Blind Vengeance lead singer Jem Powerhouse was rendered unconscious by a football. Determined to go on, guitarist Arnold "Action" Jackson and drummer Doug Pooch played their entire set instrumentally -- much to the displeasure of the crowd, which threw several chili dogs. One member of the audience was blown away, however: Mike Corely, who had been playing bass for speed-metal outfit Thunderbleed since 1996, when he'd been "released" by the Army. Corely's band -- which also included Galileo -- had just broken up, thanks to singer Artie Munx's old lady getting pregnant. After the picnic, Corely approached Pooch and Jackson and set up a heavy-metal throwdown. The foursome clicked quicker than you can drink a case of Schlitz, with Corely and Pooch locking into a rhythm faster than a mastiff on a prowler's leg, and Jackson and Galileo nearly starting a house fire with their explosive riffing. All the band needed was a name. Hoping to combine their two past monikers (à la Guns N' Roses), the musicians tried out Blind Bleed and Thunder Vengeance on Corely's mom, but she wasn't having it. Settling on the current appellation, the group began playing backyard barbecues and Hells Angels dances -- "Anywhere there was cheap beer and hot women," says Corely. As the 'bleed scored bigger and bigger gigs -- opening for Pat Travers at the Pine Street Grill in Livermore, headlining the Outhouse in Los Gatos -- Pooch quit his job teaching drums at Dan's Music (near Arby's on Airport Road in Oakland) and Galileo got himself a bitchin' 1974 Pontiac Grand Prix ("With tape deck!" he says). Somehow, combining the boogie thunder of Mountain with the speedy crunch of Judas Priest and the lecherous wink of Van Halen, the 'bleed delivers a heavy-metal cocktail that'll knock you on your ass. And just in case you think these boys are too pretty, Pooch quotes the Crüe's Vince Neil: "Just because I wear lipstick doesn't mean I can't kick your ass."
Hip Hop/Rap
Crown City Rockers
Formed under the name Mission: in 1998 during jam sessions and classes at Boston's Berklee College of Music, Crown City Rockers came to Oakland a couple of years later to contribute to the Bay Area's decade-long tradition of live hip hop bands. Along with groups like Felonious, 75 Degrees, and the New Dealers, the Rockers have brought a unique, East Coast energy to the scene, powered by a reverence for the style and ethic of old-school hip hop. The Rockers back up the conscious lyrics of MC Raashan Ahmad with dead-funky instrumentals, powered by keyboardist Kat Ouano and bassist Headnodic, that are as tight as any looped-beat arrangement. One listen to One, the group's debut album from a couple of years ago as Mission:, clarifies the quintet's humanist direction. Tunes with rhymes that alternately call out pimp-wannabe MCs and testify to the struggles of a well-meaning absentee father share space with a running roll-call of hip hop heroes. For many of the Rockers' fans, though, it's about the live show, which they've taken from here to Sarajevo, opening for luminaries like Talib Kweli and Common. Onstage, these cats are about celebrating what has become America's most potent folk music and perhaps even rescuing it from total bling-bling commodification. Even though they've had to relinquish their previous moniker to some British has-been goth band, the Crown City Rockers are still on that mission.
Hieroglyphics
Friends since grade school, Oakland's Hieroglyphics crew (Domino, Del tha Funkee Homosapien, Pep Love, Casual, and Souls of Mischief members A-Plus, Tajai, Phesto, and Opio) has captured the spirit of the worldwide independent hip hop movement for over a decade with its buttery beats and witty rhymes. Disillusioned by the realm of major labels, which they had many dealings with over the years, and disconnected from mainstream outlets (particularly radio and cable channels), the men of Hieroglyphics developed a truly original business plan in the mid-'90s, exemplified by their local imprint, Hiero Imperium. In addition to reaching out to find fans on the Internet (one of the first hip hop acts to put its faith in the medium), the crew set out on a grueling grind of endless live shows. Today, thanks in no small part to Hiero's pioneering work, indie hip hop has a thriving live circuit and the Internet is a widespread tool.
As driven musicians, it just doesn't cut it for Hieroglyphics to simply be flashy, to spit a few catchy bars and cash that fleeting paycheck for some shiny baubles. Intelligence and a social conscience are just as important: "This ain't Fantasy Island," is the proclamation on a song off their latest, Full Circle. In a fickle hip hop marketplace, it's a challenge to create music that stands the test of time, yet the members of this group have done just that. Perhaps they really do have that third eye depicted in their famous, iconic logo.
