{"id":565,"date":"2001-10-25T01:42:00","date_gmt":"2001-10-25T01:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/?p=565"},"modified":"2024-03-26T01:43:55","modified_gmt":"2024-03-26T01:43:55","slug":"mars-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/?p=565","title":{"rendered":"Mars attacks!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Red Planet, a hard candy quartet from SF, wants to rock you into orbit\u2014or something like that<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Red
Red Planet: Mind-roasting rock \u2019n\u2019 roll \u00fcber alles!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Live! 9 p.m. Friday, October 26, at Old Ironsides, 1901 S St., with the Brodys and Snubnose, $7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Face it. Van Halen never was the same without <\/strong>the egotistical, hedonistic antics of frontman David Lee Roth. Most local bands, for fear of rejection by peers, would never admit Van Halen had a good moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Red Planet guitarist\/keyboardist\/vocalist Chris Dunn, on the other hand, is pictured on the back sleeve of Let\u2019s Degenerate<\/em>, the band\u2019s latest album, with the cover of the ridiculously over the top Van Halen II<\/em> resting on his chest (which partially obscures his M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce T-shirt) while he holds a blond Telecaster with an Eddie-style tape job aloft; copies of Van Halen\u2019s 1984<\/em> and Fair Warning<\/em> are positioned nearby, among a few empty Budweisers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kudos to Red Planet, a San Francisco band that flies the flag of American rock \u2019n\u2019 roll without shame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s Degenerate<\/em> was released a few months ago by Gearhead Records, a label launched by the hot rod\/beer rock magazine of the same name, which often polybags 7-inch singles with its issues. Let\u2019s Degenerate<\/em>\u2019s predecessor, Revolution 33<\/em>, came out on Gearhead last year. Gearhead\u2019s roster includes \u201cDemons,\u201d Mensen, the Pattern and the Hives, to name a few. But Red Planet is Gearhead\u2019s trump card; the band has garnered a considerable buzz in Northern California and, consequently, has become a sizeable club draw in these parts\u2014playing such local haunts as the True Love Coffeehouse, Old Ironsides (where it performs this Friday) and Davis\u2019 G Street Pub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s Degenerate<\/em> boasts some of the best originals heard anywhere these days\u2014songs like \u201cGet Back at You\u201d and \u201cOrbit.\u201d The album\u2019s unabashed rockers give subtle nods to \u201980s pop crunch; the tunes flow remarkably well, with such tracks as the awesome title number giving an obvious thumb\u2019s up to the likes of Cheap Trick, the Ramones, the Cars and, locally, the Groovie Ghoulies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It takes a well-oiled machine to produce that kind of rock \u2019n\u2019 roll and, like any working band, each member has his essential duties that help make the machine run smoother. \u201cIt\u2019s kinda like the A-Team, the soldiers of fortune that escaped into the Los Angeles underground,\u201d explains bassist Gordon Evans, Red Planet\u2019s resident funny guy, in an e-mail interview with the band. \u201cJeremy [Powers, on vocals and guitar] is Faceman; he gets the girls and deals with the public. I am Hannibal; I love it when a plan comes together. John [Messier, on drums] is B.A. Baracus, the tough guy who drives the van, and Chris is Murdock, the crazy one with multiple personalities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And pity the fool who doubts the ability of unadulterated rock \u2019n\u2019 roll to transform an audience and pull in new victims. \u201cIt seems the more we go to a town, the bigger it gets,\u201d says Powers, who shares the band\u2019s guitar and vocal duties with Dunn. \u201cThe more we came up [to Sacramento], the more people would come out. Now we have a group of people who come out every time we come to town.\u201d Perhaps any newfound allegiance on the audience\u2019s part might have something to do with Red Planet\u2019s raucous live shows. Apparently, something\u2019s hitting a nerve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With an international tour in the works\u2014the band plans to tour Europe next month\u2014Red Planet\u2019s upward momentum is undeniable. Where, exactly, is the band growing in popularity? \u201cEverywhere we play, really,\u201d Powers calculates. \u201cDoes going from five people at a show in L.A. to 15 count as growth?\u201d asks Dunn, a question he soon answers: \u201cI think so.\u201d (It\u2019s safe to say that, these days, the head count at any given Red Planet show is slightly higher than 15.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Northern California, tomorrow America\u2014does Red Planet have the goods to rule the world?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(SN&R)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Red Planet, a hard candy quartet from SF, wants to rock you into orbit\u2014or something like that Live! 9 p.m. Friday, October 26, at Old Ironsides, 1901 S St., with the Brodys and Snubnose, $7. Face it. Van Halen never was the same without the egotistical, hedonistic antics of frontman David Lee Roth. Most local bands, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=565"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":566,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565\/revisions\/566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}