Central Services is a four-man band who have a 6-song demo that is available at the shows they are now playing around the Seattle area. The style of the music is mainly acoustic, guitar-driven, introspective, downward-peering rock. The feel of the songs shifts around a bit, not only song to song, but even within some of them, from very stripped down folk to kind of retro, 70’s style pop.
It’s nice to hear a band that is not all folded paper cutouts so all you get is the same shape repeatedly, with every song. The lyrics are good, not the normal bellyaching about who knows what, but imaginative, lucid numbers about issues of what to do now and how she feels. The lyrics are well suited to the solid music that supports their ideas and questions.
I like how questions and acoustic guitar go together like Red Rose and milk. The band asks a lot of questions in their lyrics on this demo and the music provides wonderful rhetorical punctuation.
The guitarist, Damien Koemans, whose past band experience is in speed metal, drives the down tempo, un-speed metal music of Central Services. Kevin Emerson, on drums and Jeff Blancato on bass sing the songs and the band is rounded out by Eric Goetz on keyboards. All of the members of this band have previous experience playing with other independent bands, notably the drummer, Kevin Emerson, who plays with Math and Physics Club.
Let’s see if we can figure out what this band is all about. Let me ask you a question to give this quick investigation some wheels. What are “Central Services” to you? The transit, your family, the power company, your brewery of choice, the love of your life, your iconic spiritual goaltender, your bike, your art, your friends, music itself, the N-something-FL,-HL, -BA etc.? Huh, well depending on how you answer, or what you find most central determines what this band is trying to offer as well, no? Is that too big of a responsibility for any band to shoulder, all for everyone action?
From a different perspective: if your Central Services are different than mine what can this band offer both of us? Could it be that they are implying simply that everyone has central services, although everyone’s are disparate? If that is the case this band is like anti-existentialist glue, binding us together through our differences. Shit enough, we’ll figure it out after they get signed, but I’ll keep listening in the mean time.
If you are around Seattle check out their low-fi webpage, their name .net style to see if they are playing around you, check them out, you’ll feel good about it afterwards, for a change.
