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A punk inspired I Don't Care has growling lyrics, sing song choruses, and that great punk guitar sound. The song has an urgent guitar solo and crunching rhythm guitar to accentuate the punk attitude about sisters fucking brothers. This song is a clear standout knowing the history with Pretty Little Suicide.
Another standout song, Silver Dreams. Mike sounds like he spent the night clutching Jack Daniels, rolled out of the gutter and sang this song in one take. It's raw, guttural, and makes me want to lick ashtrays and piss razors. It's that dirty and nasty.
The production is stripped down, but you can this EP is a labor of love for Mike and Mike. The minimalistic production, forgoing pompous over production and instead choosing a garage/basement production. It's a smart choice. - Blogs N Roses
This band from Boston reminded me of a combination of The Cult (musically) meets Silverchair (lyrically/vocally). They are a hard rocking band that hass a really hard driving sound that gets you “head-banging” while listening. One might even say they sound like an 80’s hair-band but better! I listened to the entire EP and feel they are well worth a look and listen if you like heavy metal music. The EP opens up with “Ask For More” which had me wanting to listen and ask for a little more. “I don’t Care” follows up with a kind of fun, punk-rock, and an in your face how they really feel about hating everything. Not your typical radio friendly song but a GNR like ring to it. “Till I Find it” was my personal favorite song on the EP because it kind of explains a journey how bands, maybe this one in particular, keep on searching everyday until they find it. I think they have found it! My hopes would be that others search and find The Strange Avenues…definitely worth it. - Midwest Music Magazine
Discography
2012 - Bacchanalia (EP)
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Bio
If music nourishes the soul, listening to The Strange Avenues is like a strict diet of beer, cigarettes, and rock n' roll. Based out of Boston, MA, TSA manages to draw from the best of rock, punk, outlaw country, and blues, congealing the blend into a sound that is in a word, raw. Completely without pretense, it's rock as written by guys that just want to drink beer and play loud.
The six-stringed seeds of the band were planted in 2009 with the meeting of Mike Patton and Mike 'Fitz' Fitzback. Although Patton was busy with his band Pretty Little Suicide, the friends spent the next two years hanging out and playing guitar, honing their sound and laying the groundwork for what was to come. It wasn't until late 2011 that the boys decided to take the project to the next level, and The Strange Avenues was formed. Every good band needs a drummer though, so a call was soon made to Mike's long time friend and frequent band mate Wade Collins, who rose to the challenge.
Over the next few months, the band worked together to fine tune their tracks. Wade's feel-good booming behind the kit meshed perfectly with Fitz's impassioned guitar leads, all tied together by Mike's steady work on the rhythm and bass guitars. And when Mike's swaggering vocals were blended with Fitz's raw baritone, it became a heady concoction indeed. Firing on all cylinders, they entered the studio in December of 2011, resulting in their debut EP, Bacchanalia - an opus of the dirtiest rock n' roll to hit the musical landscape in years.
On the heels of Bacchanalia's January release, the Avs began cementing their status as, first and foremost, a live band. Despite the disheartening loss of Wade to corporate America, the band didn't miss a beat, quickly replacing him behind the skins and spending 2012 playing a slew of shows throughout the northeast. Any lingering doubts that they could replicate the rawness of the record were cast aside, and word began to spread.
If you've come looking for a family-friendly pop act, you've come to the wrong place. The Strange Avenues have left any commercial sheen by the wayside in favor of sex, drugs and rock n' roll, conveyed in an unapologetic and refreshingly genuine voice. From the first listen, it's abundantly clear - the ride has just begun and the future burns intoxicatingly bright.
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