Reactavox is a Chicago based duo that has been consistently writing and performing their blend of indie rock since 1998. The band has played in both dives and larger clubs in major US markets including Chicago, Atlanta, Detroit, New York City, Athens, etc.The band is actively booking dates in the midwest and along the northeast coast for 2007.
LATEST REVIEW. by STRANDED IN STEREO
Reactavox
Out of True
Cherrybone Records
By Jose Fritz
There has been a glut of guitar & drums duos in the last year: Year Of The Pig, Qui, Motorama, The Black keys and on and on. Each band seems geared to achieving a sonic thickness that will make you forget that their power trio is short a member. Some succeed like, The Black Keys, but others, like Year Of The Pig, fall short and others cheat, like the White Stripes, by overdubbing to fill the void.
Reactavox do not cheat and do not fail. Their rawness feels like the first time you heard Nirvana’s Bleach. It’s bare like the garage demos of some other teenage band you’ve loved and lost by being harsh, fast and utterly primal.
The instructions on their sheet music read as follows:
1. Extend index finger.
2. Form Barre Chord.
3. Slam pick across strings with the intention to break them.
4. Repeat
5. If beer runs out, switch to power chord.
Like early Nirvana, Out of True will make you flash back to other hard punk albums of that era, like L7, Flipper, The Monks, The Stooges and Arcwelder. There are also newer descendants; the lingering followers of raw, octane fueled rock n’ roll like the Red Aunts, Handhell and Baby Guts. It’s become a neglected genre while the overflowing hairy hoards of Brooklynites bang boards and record electroclash directly into their iMacs.
It’s difficult to rock hard without wandering into glam, cock rock or metal. Too slow and it becomes stoner rock, too fast and it’s hardcore punk. Accidentally wear a wig, lace or leather and make up and you’re a glam band.
They overstep their 2004 release Weerdo with a greater and deeper love of feedback and unadorned riffing. Unadorned doesn’t just mean simple, or plain, it’s unencumbered with ornamental non-functional crap. Cuts like “Salvation” bring me back to a time when Bikini Kill was tattooing their logo on the brains of an angry generation of future burger flippers and grocery baggers. While I enjoy bands like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, there’s something cutesy about the presentation of the material that just turns me off. Garage punk had an aesthetic that went beyond what the holier-than-thou DIY putzes were thinking about in art class.
I’m not saying you can’t design your own dayglo vinyl bikinis to wear on tour. I am saying you shouldn’t need to because Reactavox doesn’t need to. They are a band that wears their street clothes on stage and they probably don’t wash them much either. Luckily the band was able to hit it home with a sound that follows no trend, but merely the band’s heart.
BUY THE NEW ALBUM "OUT OF TRUE" AT www.itunes.com
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