Reinventing the Squeal: Music Reviews in the 757: The Cemetery Boys, Uglyography, and Frood

Uglyography's first show at Norfolk Taphouse this year went down April 26. Before beginning, The Cemetery Boys' stage setup set the mood for what was too come. There were too many skulls, skeletons, and other spooky decorations to count. Edgar Von Graves picked up his bass and Lurch sat down behind the drums, both donning black ski masks to cover their true identities. The duo plays mostly hard and fast songs with horror-themed and often grotesque content. I can say with confidence, and I believe many local musicians and fans would agree with me, that Von Graves has achieved the best and fattest bass tone in all of Hampton Roads. If I was blind and not in the know, I'd believe it if someone told me The Cemetery Boys had a guitarist. Von Graves' pedals blend fat bottom end with crisp high end distortion and other effects as needed for each song. The set ended with two much lighter covers which somehow fit in surprisingly well with the darker theme of the band: "How Soon is Now" by The Smiths and "Here in My Car" by Robert Numan. It was quite a bouncy end and the crowd loved it. These boys are fun to watch and they play out in the area nearly every weekend it seems, so if you are into scary stuff you need to look for them.

Photo by Seamus McGrann

Uglyography's set went very well from what I could tell on stage (we could hear ourselves loud and clear, thanks so much to the sound guy whose name I've unfortunately forgotten). We had some in-time hand claps from the crowd and sold two of our fabulous Unicorn themed tee-shirts, so I take that as a success.

Photo by Jenny Lynn Sumner

We booked the final act for the evening, Frood, based solely on what we heard on their bandcamp page. We had a feeling that their poppy quirky style would fit perfect with Uglyography and we were correct. Their facebook description consists of two words: "Unapologetically Pop." I don't need an apology ... The four piece outfit consists of keys, guitar, bass, and drums, and employs luscious three to four part harmonies often. Lots of the music sounded Beatle-esque, but I would draw the strongest comparison to the Philadelphia-based Dr. Dog. Add some unexpected breakdowns and tempo changes, and possibly the most syncopated vocal melodies I've ever heard and there you have Frood. It is beautiful music that remains playful and gritty enough to be called Rock n Roll. I look forward to seeing how this relatively new band will grow musically and how far they may take their craft.