Jaded: An Uber Rock Introduction
Written by Jason Daniel Baker
Sunday, 20 May 2012 05:00
How do you define slick when it comes to hard rock and metal? Is it the sophistication of the production value on the recordings? Do you go by the intricacies of the compositions? Are you one of those listeners that puts stock in whether the guitarist plays fast, if the drummer hits hard or if the vocalist has a melodious voice with range?
I tend to lean towards the unbridled panache a good metal band carries with them not merely as an aspect of their collective confidence in what they are doing but in having all the things I mentioned in the above paragraph and knowing it when they bring a hot sound to the stage. Methinks ‘Gnarly’!
After a few line-up changes the current formation features Katy Reign (lead vocals, keyboard), Britt Lightning (guitars, vocals), Hillary Blaze (drums, vocals) and Laurel Wolff (bass, vocals). “The band was started in Winter 2004/05 by me and Britt. We have gone through several line-up changes, adding Laurel and Katy has been the most recent addition,” informs Hillary, formerly of the bands Smokstik and Tootsie.
I am absolutely spellbound by the wicked special sound they have crafted (doubtless crafted and honed during countless nights and days eating baked beans and clam chowder while sipping whiskey) and augmented with that inimitable New England attitude, yet I remain resentful of all the sewage of inferior bands I had to wade through to finally find their music online. It is good to put in a little effort to look for spectacular bands not yet on your radar. The tediousness of running down dead ends before you find that which you seek offers an appreciation of the rarity of truly praiseworthy acts.
But it would have been nice if I’d sidestepped the blind alleys and been turned on to Jaded by a friend which is why I am referring them to you, the reader. You’re most welcome!
These four metal maidens keep it real with a sound and stage show that evokes the very best of 1980s metal. They have left a smoking trail of awed headbangers all across New England before carving out an impressive niche playing across the United States, Spain, England and Ireland in support of acts like Alice Cooper, Buckcherry, Skid Row, Stryper, Tesla, Twisted Sister and WASP.
The star quality they have is merely an added bonus to everything else they feature in their remarkable stage shows. The sound and the attitude suggests KISS in their prime.