Published on Nov 24, 2000
New Hampshire natives Weed, Inc is a veteran band, made up of a
trio of longtime rockers from the state who came together to form
the band in 1998. They have since then earned themselves as a
reputation as one of the best indie bands in New England, tearing
up charts on mp3.com and playing packed live shows – a lot of live
shows.
Trampled, Beaten And Obeyed is their first CD, a self-
produced effort. Weed Inc. are straight ahead, guitar-and-bass
rockers; there’s nothing fancy about their sound, no flights of
complex arrangements or odd instruments. And you know what? They’re
pretty good at what they do.
Musically, the talent is there. The highlight is bass player Tim
McCoy; he lays down a beat like a thrumming heart, steady, even,
the kind of sound you can build an entire CD around. Drummer Norm
Fuller, oddly enough, tends to play his drums not as a beat to
build on but as an accent, a lot of spiky cymbals and snare hits.
Guitarist Leo Ganley is competent; he’s not Eddie Van Halen, at
least not on this CD, but he doesn’t have to be, and he gets in
some churning licks on “Always Back To Lorraine”, which is one of
the best songs on the disc.
The production (in the background, we hear the “Daily Vault”
faithful groaning in agony as I talk about production again) is
workmanlike but clean, the band’s sound crunchy without being
murky. Highlights of
Trampled include “You Are My Windows”, with a bright, Muscle
Shoals-style horn section; the stomping opener, “Queen Bee”; the
driving bass of “Open Up”; “Paint A Picture”‘s martial drum line;
and the almost-parody angst of “&^@$ Your Minivan” (as a side
note, this sounds both illegal and a likely way to get a very
painful burn).
To make a referential quote, “It’s only rock and roll, but I
like it.” There’s a good reason Weed Inc. has made such a stir up
New Hampshire way; they’re
good at what they do. Track this one down, or get it off
their web page. It’s worth it.