Rocket Reducers

You don’t come across many 12” EPs these days, which is too bad because, in my mind, it’s a great format. Too many bands have more than enough quality for songs for a 7”, but not quite enough for an LP, which is where the 12” EP comes in handy. These guys could well have enough material for an LP; they fit seven dandies on this disc. Seriously, if you want to sit down for about 15 minutes of kick-you-in-the-nuts punk ‘n’ roll, this is your ticket. The songs are short (for the most part), catchy, raw, and delivered with a sense of urgency that will have you begging for more. This is worth going out of your way to find. (KK) - Maximum Rocknroll

ROCKET REDUCERS
While Rocket Reducers offer one
of the newest bands, it's their love
of more traditional punk that makes
them more likeable.
Matt Ellis (guitar and vocals),
Nathan Burger (lead guitar), T.J
Charlton (bass) and Ryan Stack
(drums) have been friends have
grown up together - literally. Ellis
and Burger met in grade school and
it wasn't long before they discovered punk and started playing in bands.
From the Ramones and the Sex
Pistols they dug back and discovered the Stooges and MC5 and made the music that they thought was real but the scene in Welland didn't.
Ellis would temporarily join
Attack in Black on bass and use
their rehearsal space to record his
own band for a CDEP but even with
the discs, the band struggled. It wasn't until a record shopping sojourn that introduced them to Jimmy Vapid. "Sure, there are tons of punk rock bands out there-but a lot of times, people don't get what we're doing," explains Charlton. "Well, unless they're above the age of 34."
"lt was fun but it wasn't our
scene," adds Ellis. "We never fit in
with that. The majority of people
don't know what were about in
Welland. Jim's store Reining Sound
was the first real rock and roll
record store I ever went to,"
RRs evoke icons of old and
interject some of that style with
amphetamine energy that only
youth can offer. Finding a kindred
spirit in the more veteran Vapid,
Ellis would end up joining Vapid in a new band the Harbour Rats, and then enlist him to produce the new
record. "Jimmy pretty much did
exactly what we wanted with the
recordings - really loud guitars, dirty
vocals - everything that resembles
the live show," says Charlton. "l
mean, that's what we are--a live band."
With Ellis moving to Hamilton
to study at Mohawk, the band has a new home base and this weekend offers the new self titled vinyl -
again being on the cutting edge by going a little more old school. And as what traditionally makes every band - Rocket Reducers are just itching to play. Plans are set to get the music to tastemakers at indie radio and magazines across North
America, RR is hoping to tour
Canada this summer, but this weekend they offer a live introduction to the band with their new record.
"I think we all get pretty psyched to play shows - or maybe it's
just the booze," Charlton. "With all
egotism aside, I think we put on a
good live show--may not be the
tightest, but the energy is there.
"lf you don't have a record player there is a chance you won't be
into us anyway," smiles Ellis. "We
need the perfect mix of booze and
loud guitars. To sum it all up, if you
like your rock'n'roll loud, fast, and
dirty we are the band for you."

THE ROCKET REDUCERS RECORD
RELEASE HAPPENS THIS FRIDAY,
JANUARY 23 AT THE CASBAH
LOUNGE WITH BRUTAL KNIGHTS,
VATICAN CHAINSAW MASSACRE
AND THE SCH00L JERKS. THE 19+
SHOW DOORS OPEN AT 9PM AND $7
GETS YOU IN. - VIEW - Hamilton's Indepent Voice

Rocket Reducers - S/T 12" EP
Younger Canadian punks cranked up on sugar, New Bomb Turks, Registrators records, and, uh … affordable national health care? This record compiles two different sessions. Side A is newer material, a focused garage attack with sharp cymbals, frenetic guitar, and barked chorus that at its best recalls a Savage-era Teengenerate; the singer is clear and rough-voiced, but no Fink. Who is, though? The recording is raw, but bright and loud. Side B is from a year prior, and isn’t as nicely unrefined as the flip, closing with a slinky “1970” (song not year)-inspired blues jam. A strong vinyl debut, and hopefully they can maintain the positive deconstruction. Scum Stats: 300 black vinyl, 100 orange, 100 purple.
(Killedbyjeff), still-single.tumblr.com - Still Single

Rocket Reducers s/t 12" EP
Punk rawk from the metropolis of Welland, ON (home of the Welland Canal!), a Canadian 'burg where I've actually spent a bit of time. Surprised these kids haven't played Buffalo (or maybe they have and I'm out of touch). I'm always more lenient on bands from small towns, as I always like it when something punk-inspired is going on in out-of-the-way places. Rocket Reducers definitely play that turbo-charged brand of punk lovingly referred to as Punk RaWk (emphasis on the W) inspired by Nineties heroes such as the New Bomb Turks and Dwarves and then beat into the ground by Junk Records and most bands interviewed in Hit List magazine. RR's do a good job of it though, the guitar player has all the right moves, catchy tunes/choruses, snotty singer. I've really enjoyed this record for what it is, which is catchy punk rock'n'roll. Seven cuts = six blazers ("Sauce Wagon" is the real-deal) and one slower rock number that's executed well. Small town rockin' like this is OK with me, recorded good and loud, great packaging too. If this record came out in 1995, people would've been swooning. In 2009, I'm just glad they're not playing shitty pop-punk or fucking crust or some shit. Next time I hit the ballet in Fort Erie, I'm looking these guys up... Scum stats: 300 black, 100 orange, 100 purple. (RK), TERMINAL BOREDOM - Terminal Boredom

June 24th, 2009 @ the Ship & Anchor with SNFU, the Yells, Last Plague
For the second installment of our Sled Island Featured Artist series, we bring you
Welland, Ontario’s Rocket Reducers. When we heard that this punk rock act was
going to play the second day of Sled Island with legendary punks SNFU, we had
to ask them to tell us their story. What we got was as punk rock as you can get;
“The Rocket Reducers aren’t some nostalgic, second-wave kids from the suburbs.
In a few words, this is raw power: the type of enthusiasm that resembles a pack of
wolves more so than it does a rock and roll high school pep rally.”
Fantastic!
The group (featuring Burger, Ellis, Stack and TJ) just released a 12'' self-titled
EP back in January in limited numbers and will be playing in Lethbridge on June
23rd before their Sled Island show. From Calgary, they’ll be playing in Vancouver
and Victoria before returning for another show in Calgary on July 4th (at the
Distillery). They’ll then make their way back across the prairies for a number of
shows in Ontario lasting into July.
Within a quick listen to their music, you can easily see how Rocket Reducers are influenced by other such legends as MC5,
the Stooges and the Kinks.
- Off The Dial