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Remember all the way back in 2002 how MTV, Rolling Stone and every other corporate snake of a music outlet informed us that "Rock Was Back!" while trying to shove artists like Shakira and even Britney Spears down everyone’s throats as being "rock stars?" Funny thing happened, though, on the way to a full blow rock revival; Hip Hop and R&B tightened their grip on the youth of America and suddenly, with the influx of bland formulaic acts, became about as original and "thought provoking" as boy bands. Then you had the bastard child of Rock and Roll, Avril Lavigne, come along and attempt to re-define punk while being nothing more than a Britney Spears knock off clad in Dickies and wristbands. Then of course, we have the NEW Revival of Rock...the ever growing realm of Punk Pop. With such *ahem* "Heavyweights" as Good Charlotte carrying the flag for dysfunctional youth who hate and loathe their lives and write sad poetry in their Live Journals between trips to Abercrombie and Fitch in daddy's Beamer. Well, fear not ye who searches for actual, factual, REAL rock and roll. Your answer has arrived. I have seen the future of rock and it has arrived in the form of The AKAs.

Anyone with even a passing interest in the Hardcore scene has probably heard of AKAs' front man Mike Ski. The vocally easy to recognize Ski gained fame fronting the hugely influential hardcore band Brothers Keeper, a band that didn't necessarily follow the usual guidelines of what a "hardcore band" should be in some people's eyes. Ski seemed to keep that logic in mind when putting the AKAs together because this won't fit the usual preconceived notions some folks have about rock. There are no long drawn-out guitar solos, no crying about abusive parents, mind numbing "mosh" inducing downtuned power chording… none of the things that most people think. What you will find, however, is guitar and keyboard driven "booty shaking" rock and roll that'll put a smile on your face and induce sporatic singing. Just like any good rock and roll record should.

According to the bands bio, The AKAs were put together by Ski to "rival the band he's always heard in his head." Ski enlisted the help of guitarist (and long time friend) Lukas Previn to get the ball rolling, later adding Chad Bowser (Bass), Bob Williams (Drums) and Nina Aron (Farfisa) to round out the mental vision Ski apparently already had. After creating a buzz in the underground with their self release 3 song EP, "THE AKA'S ARE EVERYWHERE," in 2002 the band set out to move beyond the embrace of the New York City hipster scene and gather fans from other points of the county. By taking their energetic live show on the road, leaving no stone unturned, the band soon had a legion of fans in tow..now they needed a record label so they could unleash a full version of their vision set forth on the "...EVERYWHERE" ep on the masses. This problem was solved in Austin, Texas in early 2003 at the yearly South By Southwest music festival, conference, label suck up fest that has produced a number of good bands, some notoriety (do I even have to bring up the Icarus Line/Buddyhead incident?) and a lot of flash in the pan bands that made the Pavlov Dogs of Major Labels drool enough to throw huge contracts around like so much Monopoly money. Florida indie label Fueled By Ramen liked what they saw in The AKAs and "before the ink on their contract was even dry, the band was in the studio with producer Tim O'Heir (All American Rejects.)" (quote taken from The AKAs bio).

The result of this time in the studio is The AKAs debut full length; "White Doves and Smoking Guns." Due out September 9th, it features 11 tracks that'll make you want to clap your hands and sing along while shaking your booty like your name was J-Lo.  Anybody picking this up expecting something like Brothers Keeper better just squash that idea. But, if you dig rock in the vein of Hot Hot Heat and (to some extent) The White Stripes then definitely gobble this up. And, make sure you catch the band out on tour. Buy a t-shirt and say hi to Ski. Just don't scream out requests for "The Continuum," you might get a laugh and a keyboard solo in response.

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Your Turn, What do you think?

Fan Speak:

Posted by Powers:
Its tight seeing one of the members (Chad Bowser) who I grew up with and knew as a Kid from my hometown Sheboygan, WI, being so sucessful. I Picked up the paper today and saw that he just married the bassist from "the dwarves" and Im happy he's doing so well. Good luck in everything Chad, and keep up the great work!