Archive for the ‘pop-rock’ Category
CD Review: Maldroid’s Oakland Lad’s Club
April 11th, 2008 | 
Author: By Julia Cooper
Maldroid’s history would make any new band jealous: the quick courting by music industry honchos; the backing of local radio; the appearance on Good Morning America — all surfaced without a single recording or live show to speak of. Winning a YouTube music video contest in 2006 propelled the Oakland seven-piece into the national spotlight, leaving behind a trail of listeners eager to see just what these guys are made of.
With the April 15 unveiling of their debut full-length just around the corner, the Oakland Lad’s Club EP, released in September, offers a brief two-song, two-remix appetizer of pop anthems fit for rock airwaves. On “You Wanna Touch It,” Maldroid transforms into sexed-up robots, fusing a soaring Bon Jovi chorus (“Turn off the lights and take off your clothes/ I’ll show you mine if you show me yours”) with spaceship synth sounds and a thick ‘80s hair metal thump of guitars and drums. “Heck No! (I’ll Never Listen to Techno)” continues the band’s let’s-party spirit with a page taken from Devo’s deviant new-wave songbook in, oddly, a Radio Disney-friendly burst of bouncy keyboard blips.
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Maldroid Signs to an Indie
Oakland band Maldroid announced yesterday it has signed to progressive San Francisco “music company” Fuzz. While the group did receive major label attention in the aftermath of its YouTube music video victory in November, it opted to sign with a like-minded indie in order to retain complete control over its image and products.
Maldroid has designs on some unusual steps in the future, such as releasing a full-length album as a series of singles and ultimately packaging the record as a DVD, with each song having its own video. Fuzz, for its part, goes by the slogan “Music Uprising” and hopes to “revolutionize the music industry,” so chances are good that many of Maldroid’s new ideas will be seen to fruition. Of course, some of the band’s plans, such as more elaborate music video production, will require increased financial backing that Fuzz may or may not be able to provide — certainly not to the extent that a major could.
Josh Fix
MySpace (listen to “Don’t Call Me in the Morning,” “Jethro”)
Official site
Hometown: San Francisco
Next local show: 3/22, Red Devil Lounge
Upcoming release: Free At Last, 2007
I had to do a double-take to make sure I wasn’t listening to some lost Queen tracks instead of the full-length debut of 29-year-old San Francisco musician Josh Fix. No kidding. His production values are top-notch, his vocals and instrumental parts fully realized, and his songwriting consistently glorious — replete with melodies, harmonies, hooks, and all the pleasures of grandiose ’70s pop-rock. But unlike Freddie Mercury, Fix never goes over the top — though he has retained the soaring background chorus vocals.
Maldroid
MySpace (listen to “Heck No,” “He Said, She Said”)
Official site
Hometown: Oakland
Next local show: 2/17, Slim’s
Recent release: Malfunction EP, 2006
Looking at the above picture of Maldroid, you may be asking yourself: What’s up with the brown suits? And the painted briefcase? And why is the band posing in front of a row of Gibson guitars? Good questions, all…good questions with very good answers. To find them, we direct you to this cover story on Maldroid that was published today in the East Bay Express.