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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

The Sounds Of Silence Are Ear-Battering And Mind-Numbing

Distorted Silence can sometimes be a bit misleading. First, the band’s name sounds like a moniker a death metal band would don.

Second, the painting and the logo on the cover of its debut album “Fear the Network” resemble that of an ‘80s Dungeons and Dragons-style heavy metal band.

But as the old cliche goes: Never judge a book by its cover.

Distorted Silence doesn’t sing about the apocalypse or bodily mutilation. And they don’t play Dungeons and Dragons.

Rather, the combo, which plays a CD release party Saturday at Outback Jack’s, appreciates the simple things in life: bodily functions, shaving (not necessarily facial hair), drinking beer and making music that inflames neighbors.

What began as a conventional heavy metal band in 1994 has morphed into a musical horror show. Metal still punctuates the band’s distorted and not-so-silent barrage. But the band also varies up the melee with shards of funk, rap, reggae, punk and lounge music. The result is a frenzied roller coaster ride.

In doing this, the band - guitarists Ken Johnson and Jason Ramierez, bassist Lenny Fuson, drummer Chad Lien and vocalist Jason McKinney - is starting to find its niche.

When giving “Fear the Network” a spin, one psychotic band instantly comes to mind during the 12-song set: Mr. Bungle.

McKinney admits he’s an admirer of the quirky, boundless voice-propelling Mr. Bungle and Faith No More, Mike Patton.

“There’s a little Patton influence, I guess,” he understates. “We’re just trying to be diverse.”

And diverse they are.

Take the band’s rendition of Metallica’s “Seek and Destroy.” It’s not a straight cover of the bombast metal tune. No, Distorted Silence plays it like they were tossing back martinis, puffing cigars and wearing cheap suits in a Las Vegas lounge. (Faith No More did the same thing when it covered the Dead Kennedys’ “Let’s Lynch the Landlord” in 1992.)

Since the band firmed its lineup last year, the band has gained a strong following in Spokane.

When asked what they think about the health of the local scene and the city in which they live and play music, the entire band responds aptly with a round of belches.

Playing music in Spokane has been frustrating. The five have watched attendances at shows rise and dwindle and rise and dwindle. And not just at their shows but original music gigs everywhere.

“People here, they like dancing kind of like that hip-hop (stuff),” says Fuson.

“They want Top-40,” says McKinney, the band’s most outspoken member. “They want the (expletive) they hear on the radio.”

If it’s airplay that lures crowds to shows, Distorted Silence shouldn’t have a problem, because the band’s version of “Seek and Destroy” has been added to limited rotation on the nationwide, satellite radio network Z-Rock (heard in Spokane on KNJY 103.9 FM).

So far, the quintet’s one out-of-town jaunt - to Portland - has been fruitful, even if the pay was peanuts.

“On that Monday night,” McKinney recalls of the Portland show, “there were more people there than there are on a Saturday night at any given bar in Spokane for local, original music.”

With the release of its new album, Distorted Silence hopes to play out of town regularly.

What’s barring them from committing to the road full-time is something that plagues many musicians - day jobs. Well, with the exception of McKinney, who’s unemployed.

“I sit around and paint pictures and my girlfriend works at KREM-2,” says McKinney, who lends his voice to two other bands, Cotton Mouth and Malicious Mischief. “It works out OK, though. I got a lot of time on my hands.”

Which reminds me of a joke: What do you called a musician without a girlfriend? Homeless.

The band has talked about moving to a bigger city, one more conducive to original music, a city like Portland. But that’s just talk.

For now, the band will concentrate on local shows. Eventually, Distorted Silence hopes to works some animals into its routine.

“We were thinking about getting a chicken and dyeing it purple and walking him out on stage with a little spiked collar on.

“We’re gonna get a cage and just put him up there (on stage) so everyone wonders what we’re going to do with it,” says Lien.

Like Ozzy Osbourne and Frank Zappa concerts in the ‘70s and ‘80s, imagine the rumors that would spark: “Distorted Silence bites head off ‘Clucky, The Purple Chicken.’ Story at 11.”

Showtime’s at 9:30 p.m. The cover is $4. Worm Drive, Stage Fryte open.

Punk-o-ramma

Denver’s La Donnas will muscle their way into Ichabod’s North tonight.

The band is signed to Scooch Pooch Records, which released a couple of the singles and a full-length album “Shady Lane” for the band.

Scooch Pooch, a Seattle label subsidized partly by Sub Pop, recently signed Spokane’s Fumes.

Spokane’s Clabberhag and Moscow’s Jetpack and Chromies are also on tonight’s bill. Music starts at 9:30 p.m. The cover is $4.

Blue Christmas

Sometimes mistaken as the jolly old Saint Nick, Fat James of Seattle’s Fat James Blues Band, will descend upon the Inland Northwest for three shows with a bagful blues songs instead of toys.

Fat James Blues Band play the Fort Spokane Brewery tonight and Saturday and at the Waterin’ Hole in Coeur d’Alene on Sunday.

Fat James and his beefy crew have been recording some new tracks and have undergone a bit of a sound transformation, changing from a rock-based blues band to a blues-based rock band. So what’s the difference?

Perhaps you can figure it out this weekend. The cover is $7 tonight and Saturday, $5 on Sunday. All shows commence at 9:30 p.m.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo