Lean and Mean
The Pretty Black Chains keep rattling @ NMF5
BY G.K. HIZER
When Pretty Black Chains appeared at Fassler Hall in January, it
arrived as a different band than the one that Tulsa audiences had been
accustomed to. The autumn departure of lead singer Kellen McGugan
initially put a halt on progress with the band, but after auditioning a
couple other singers, bassist Jonathan (Chuck) Martin, drummer Kurt
Freudenberger and guitarist Derek Knowlton decided to soldier on as trio
with Knowlton handling vocal duties.
Although the attrition in lineup has changed to presentation of the
band, it hasn't made the group any less explosive. McGugan's stage
presence channeled a young Mick Jagger, combined with a touch of Bowie
and a dash on Ian Astbury. Without his eclectic stage persona, you might
think Pretty Black Chains would lose part of its live impact, but you'd
be wrong. This year's showcase at SXSW was just as explosive as last
year's with the band finally hitting its groove as a power-trio.
McGugan's absence does take away an element, but it also leaves the band
more room to build upon its true strengths and explore a new landscape
sonically. If anything, the "power" in power trio comes out as the band
members feed off of each other and hit the audience with a wall of
energy and sound.
  Keep Rattling. A powerful musical trio, Pretty Black Chains' dynamic has changed but the same wall of energy falls heavily on audiences when they perform. |
According to guitarist (and now lead vocalist) Derek Knowlton, the
band's last performance as a quartet occurred Aug. 27, 2011 at Dustbowl
Arts Market. When discussing McGugan's departure, Knowlton shared that
"To be honest, it was kind of out of the blue, but his heart just wasn't
in it anymore. I think the others were a little hurt and confused by
it, but I was kind of excited.
"I've always been in a band with a prominent front man," he continued
"and as a band, we kind of struggled with that when Kellen left. We
tried a couple of other singers, but finally made the decision to just
go on as a trio. It's different when you lose a guitarist or bassist or
drummer. People don't think as much of changing those members as they do
when the face of the band changes."
Even so, although the dynamic has changed a bit, the overall vibe has
continued on as the group decided to move forward with its core and not
bring in another member. That's likely made the transition easier, both
for the band and its established fan base. The transition has also
opened new doors for Knowlton and the rest of the band.
"For me, part of it has been an opportunity to establish myself more
as a songwriter and singer, not just as a guitarist, which is how I've
always been known," Knowlton said. "This is an opportunity to establish
that this is my band."
When we very first started, Chuck and I wrote everything together,"
he said. "Chuck had kids and got busy with his family and I opened
Warpaint (Knowlton's T-shirt business in OKC). I've got a basement
there, which gave me even more opportunity to play and write in my down
time."
Although the band recorded an initial group of songs for its debut
disc, Ceremonies, by the time the band had the disc ready for release,
it had already moved on to playing a whole different group of songs with
a different sound and direction. As a result, when Ceremonies was
finally released, the group included an additional disc with five demo
tracks of its new material and an indication of where the band was
headed next.
"When everyone heard Ceremonies they thought, 'Oh, I get it -- you're
a Strokes-like garage band,' but that was just that one moment in time.
It's just an ever evolving thing with this band. Now that Kellen's
gone, we've all started to sing. Some of the new songs don't even have
bass, it's guitar, drums and organ with three part harmonies, which
makes us sound all the more like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club during
their Howl period."
Even though Knowlton references Black Rebel, which was a definite
reference point on the band's last disc, Awakening, don't try and paint
the band into any corners. When the group played Fassler Hall in
January, it had already moved on from that last album and didn't play
any songs from the disc, rolling out a whole new set of songs. Not even
three months later, Knowlton shared that the band has continued to move
forward and is only playing about three of those songs now as the
direction and sound continues to evolve.
"Our sound is still changing," Knowlton acknowledged, "but as long as
we're the ones writing it, I think it will always sound like Pretty
Black Chains. We just won't get stuck in the rick riff thing. When
Kellen left, it actually allowed us to explore even more, sound wise."
Although the band's ever changing sound and set list can prove to be
challenging to audiences who are accustomed to a more static set list,
Knowlton views the band's role a bit differently than most. "I think, as
a local band, we're supposed to do that," he said. "We're supposed to
use the local crowd as a sounding board to work out new material, to
keep it fresh for them and us both."
ORIGINALLY POSTED IN URBAN TULSA WEEKLY.http://www.urbantulsa.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A48174
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