UNDERRIDE

These days, in the world of rock, too often do wires get crossed in a snarly network of countless subgenres and categories. New bands that are said to be the Second Coming are all too often the first to be going. It's fierce survival of the fittest out there, but it seems like change for the better has started to take place out of some cities.

From Seattle, a five-piece band called Underride has begun a revival of sorts, zapping the apathetic scene, using their hooky, guitar-driven brand of rock like a high-voltage cattle prod. “We're trying to save rock and roll. It feels like it's kind of drifting away...it's time to bring it back up," explains Rev, Underride's lead singer. He, along with guitarists Suzuki Sixx and Princess, bassist El Barto, and drummer Double A, blast forth a sound which is a hybrid of melodic hard rock with catchy choruses and a pop sensibility.

Within the sonic stew of Underride lies a myriad of musical influence and flavor--a stew singed and seared from a recipe distinguishably all their own. Crank up a song like the lyrically poignant, "Another Way Out" and you'll hear a sound like a hard rock love child conceived from a wild, drunken hump on the hot hood of a nitro-burning funny car. While real, day-to-day life subject matter is their songs, Underride eschews the doomsday drivel which is the typical shit du jour so many of their contemporaries are serving up.

Underride has garnered a strong following in the Pacific Northwest by word of mouth alone from their dynamic live shows and regional events, snatching airplay and concert promotion from Seattle's KISW 99.9 FM, and have begun to stab cities outward in the U.S. They've opened for the likes of many national acts, including Static X, Duff McKagan's Loaded, Trust Company, 30 Seconds to Mars, Saliva, and Jet Black Stare.

The release of Distorted Nation, the follow-up to the breakout, One of Us (2008), will reaffirm the quintet's chokehold on the world of rock.