Living in Western, New York, there is a reasonably small pool of weirdos and outsiders consistently doing music stuff. I have been aware of ECLECTIC BLEND for quite some time and anxiously awaiting their studio demo that has been in the works for multiple years at this point. Is that what I received when finally getting to see the band perform live? No. Instead, in true Rochester fashion a much more confusing release has dropped. A debut release in the form of a live cassette, allegedly recorded at the humorously titled My Apartment, a bar in Rochester, NY (tho the band announces at the beginning of the set that they are instead at long time Rochester staple The Bug Jar,- this is further confirmed by the handwriting on the second J-card in the tapes case listing it as ‘ECLECTIC BLEND – live at the Bug Jar’).
It would be really easy to go on and on about the silly aspects of this release, from the packaging to the bizarre dubbing choices to that I think it’s allegedly released on a fictitious label, but all razzing and shit-talking aside, let’s get into the music.
When I was first told about the existence of this band they were referred to as ‘JAKE RAZOR AND HIS ECLECTIC BLEND’, Jake Razor being the guitarist and one of the driving forces of Rochester hardcore-punk powerhouse LEAKING HEAD. It was described to me as ‘punks wanting to be HAWKWIND.’ Holy hell, sign me up! Finally seeing and getting to listen to this band, albeit only in live form, in actuality ECLECTIC BLEND is both more straight-forward and more confusing than that. Driving rock-n-roll riffs and endless jammy warbly guitar leads are the driving force of these songs. Mixed with Jake’s insanely gruff vocals the songs end up having a strangely timeless early punk feel. There are songs that sound like THE PAGANS or lost DEAD BOYS tracks. This is true Attack Punk, a term once used to specifically describe fellow Rochesterians, UV RAYS that I always felt was perfectly fitting. The recording is very discernible for a live recording at a bar, perhaps helped by the fact that it sounds like the band is playing to a completely empty room. Either that or the crowd just fully does not get what the ECLECTIC BLEND are doing. By the end of this 28 minute live set (split up between both sides of a 60-minute tape, but not full set on each side) I am just left clamoring even more for this bands studio recorded demo. If this group of booger-eaters could just get out of their own damn way ECLECTIC BLEND would be an absolute hit!
Label: Good Records
Band: ECLECTRIC BLEND
