The Triangle

Issue date: 2/4/05 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: Karen Maziarz Here´s a shock: these houses are condemned. Yeah, I know, I was surprised too. Anyway, there was a concert there.

3437 Lancaster Ave. has been condemned, deemed unfit for human life. Soon the bulldozers and the steamrollers will come reduce it to a pile of rubble. Some may mistakenly blame it on those bulldozers, but make no mistake, folks- it was Come Dionysus and Kef that brought this house down.

Ladies and gentleman of Drexel University, let me introduce you to your two best rock bands. The flier read January 30th and promised four bands and three kegs for the reasonable price of $5. Kef, Come Dionysus, Killion and Mailon, To the Moon, and three kegs. It was a party - you missed it. And that sucks for you, my friend. It was Tony Giunta, the bassist for Come Dionysus, who handed me the flier. He described his band's sound as 'neo-grunge.' I've always hated describing this type of music as 'grunge.' You find grunge underneath the hood of your car, not on stage or in a record store. But it wasn't too long into Come Dionysus' set that I realized Tony's description couldn't be more appropriate. I would never dare say that Come Dionysus "sounds like Nirvana", there's much more to them than that. At first their influences threatened to overpower them, but that threat was quickly stomped out. And while the influences of Seattle's sound are there and plain to see (hear), the band has forged beyond it's early-nineties influences to create it's own unique sound.

"I have no problem being compared to Seattle- that's good music," said leader singer/guitarist Chris Jones. "If someone compares us to Nirvana, I'm flattered." This is early 90's alternative rock music. But the members of Come Dionysus have had fifteen years to reflect, and they have used that time wisely. Come Dionysus sounds so powerful, it's hard to believe there are only three guys on stage at any given time. Their music is more intense than straight shots of Everclear; it hits you like a Tyson blow and never lets up.

The bands' mantra is clear: shut up and rock. But don't mistake them for some mindless hard rock band. Their lyrics, while somewhat dark at times, display wit that shouldn't go unnoticed. Jones describes them as "sincere, I hope." Drummer Adam Phaneuf shifts from the fanatically frantic to impeccably hushed, and never misses a beat along the way. Leader singer and guitarist Chris Jones relishes his opportunity and ability to crank out a mean guitar solo. Phaneuff and Jones have been playing together for a year and a half, by their own estimation. They are former members of another Drexel rock band, the now-defunct Dingbats. The chemistry they have developed in those years playing together between them is unquestionable.

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