My bud Zipperhead, who began his own management company Zipperhead Productions, has been telling me about this amazing band out of Asbury Park who call themselves The Battery Electric. As luck would have it, they also recently won the Asbury Music Award for Top Rock Band. So, Zip might be onto something with this group. I had to check them out! I gave a listen to their songs “Shock Hazard,” which was infectious, “Ovulator,” the name says it all, and “Midnight Queen,” probably one of my favorite tracks from the band. The Battery Electric won me over right away! These guys had a very cool, laid-back, retro-New York Bowery Street sound. I really dug it and feel that there is definitely a place for these guys on the music scene and beyond.
The Battery Electric are a hard rock trio with some heavy blues influences hailing from Asbury Park. They formed back in 2012 and consist of singer and drummer Ron Santee, guitarist Brent Bergholm and bassist Alex Rosen. They like to describe their sound as loud, energetic and back-to-basics rock ‘n’ roll, but include elements of garage rock, hard rock and blues rock. After only being together for about a year, in February 2013, the boys signed with an Asbury Park label called Little Dickman Records, and a month later, released their debut CD, Weaving Spiders, digitally on an international level and later on 12” vinyl.
Weaving Spiders boasts 10 tracks that best showcase the band. The songs take you back to a time where there was “musical freedom, free thinking, a free living, free sex, and enlightenment of the corrupt government.” Yes, these guys are modern day hippies! The Battery Electric reminded me so much of The Compulsions from New York City. In fact, I would love to see The Battery Electric and The Compulsions do a show together in NYC or somewhere in Jersey. That would be a great show! Check The Battery Electric out now at facebook.com/TheBatteryElectric or catch them live at the Brighton Bar in Long Branch on Feb. 7.
NORTH JERSEY NOTES UPDATES:
What did I get for Christmas? I received a copy of Apathy’s new single, “Broken Bones, Bloody Noses,” from my bro and singer Pete Wells. The song makes you feel exactly what the title tells you! It’s brutal metal at its finest. Pete’s vocals bring back that classic thrash metal ambience of old. It just makes “Broken Bones, Bloody Noses” filthy and absolutely beautiful. Check the song out now at apathy-nj.com.
My old buddies from Kosmic Daydream recently released a new music video for their song “Picnic.” The video chronicles the band’s recent trip to Albany, NY in what they call “t-shirt weather on the winter solstice.” The song is classic Kosmic Daydream and if you ever wanted to hear what these psychedelic, modern day hippies sounded like, you can check out the video for “Picnic” at youtu.be/E_HSq9Wst3s or check the band out at reverbnation.com/kosmicdaydream.
And finally, my bros from Audio Empire landed an amazing gig opening for Red Dragon Cartel on April 2 at Mexicali Live in Teaneck, NJ. Who the hell are Red Dragon Cartel, you say? First of all, how dare you! Secondly, it’s legendary Ozzy Osbourne and Badlands guitarist Jake E. Lee’s new band. This will be the first time we get to see Lee in the flesh since Eddie Trunk brought him out of the woodwork a couple of seasons ago on VH1 Classic’s That Metal Show. Obviously, Eddie will be hosting this event and my boys will be direct support. For more info on this event, log onto facebook.com/audioempiremusic or check out the band’s brand new website, audioempireband.com.
That’s all for now! If your band is from North Jersey, and you want some exposure, send your press kits to Arts Weekly, c/o Tim Louie P.O. Box 1140, Little Falls, NJ 07424, or you can email me at tim@theaquarian.com, where you can also let me know where you’re performing next!
Just remember….We’re all in the same boat, so every little bit of exposure counts!
Tim Louie is the Author of S**t Happens.
NJN Concert Calendar:
1/10—Half-Witted Dogs/Fee Fee Mermaids/Coffin Stuffers/Sewage NYC—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
1/11—Natural Born Losers/Bluesfield Drive/Useless/OGRE/SMACK—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
1/11—Ashes Within/Firehaze/Cause Of Affliction/Proxima Control/Libricide/Dark Matter—Trash Bar, Brooklyn, NY
1/11—The Latanza Heist/Judge The Fallen/Nuse/Sekond Skyn/Negative Sky/Ixion Lux/Division 1.1/BoundAlive—Roxy-N-Dukes Roadhouse, Dunellen, NJ
1/14—Ghosts Of Eden—The Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, NY
1/16—A Pale Horse Named Death/Borgo Pass—The Studio at Webster Hall, NYC
1/17—Eric Martin (voice of Mr. Big)/Scotty Dunbar/Joy Ride/New Day Dawn/McClinton/Pounds The Lbs/Scottish Widows/Autobiography Of Man—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
1/17—Atom Strange—Blackthorn 51, Elmhurst, NY
1/17—Governing Murphy—Jilly’s, Scranton, PA
1/18—Syka/In This Moment/Butcher Babies—Webster Theater, Hartford, CT
1/18—Audio Empire/Vextion/Spider Rockets/June Divided/Pyramada—Brighton Bar, Long Branch, NJ
1/18—That Metal Show Live (Eric Martin/Metal Mike/Station/Xero Gravity/Ixion Lux)—Mexicali Live, Teaneck, NJ
1/22—Reagan Youth—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
1/25—Waking Heroes/The Black Clouds/Revel 9/Finding Westerly/Civic—Crossroads, Garwood, NJ
1/25—Kosmic Daydream/Jaded Past—The Cup Complex, Linden, NJ
2/1—Lords Of Mercy—The Stone Pony, Asbury Park, NJ
2/1—Black Tooth Grin/Half-Witted Dogs/Xenophile/The Battery Electric/Lower The Veil/The Dirty Stayouts/Sinsanity—The Blue Room Lounge, Secaucus, NJ
2/6—The Jersey Syndicate/Gin Blossoms—Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ
2/7—Frankenstein 3000/Lower The Veil/Tara Elliot And The Red Velvets/Buzzard Wagon/The Battery Electric—Brighton Bar, Long Branch, NJ
2/8—Tarpit Boogie—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ
