Words and pictures by Duane Clawson
Surf rockers unite. Crushed Out was in
town, finally. The members of Crushed Out, Frank Hoier (guitar/vocals) and Moselle Spiller (drums/percussion), certainly did not
take the easy road to get in to town. To play a 30-minute warm up
set, the band drove 19+ hours, made soup over a campfire, and all of
this after playing until 1am the night before in New Hampshire. Whew!
I'm tired just hearing the story. Such are the trials and
tribulations of a band attempting to become a bigger shark in an
ocean full of big fish. Crushed Out began their career as the band Boom
Chick but due to some copyright issues, a name change was needed. The
term crushed out is an early 20th-century term for
breaking out of jail. I guess this term could be applied to Frank and
Moselle as the attempt to break out their brand of music; a brand of
music that is a cross blend of Dick Dale meets Hank Williams.
As for
this quick stop in St. Louis, the duo seemed a tad bit slow to get their
set going, as there were some technical difficulties with a vintage
Echoplex that kept providing Frank with a mild shock through his
microphone. As Frank was doing his best to avoid electrocution,
Moselle did a great job of picking up any voids in their music with
her furious drumming. After meeting Moselle before the show and
finding her to be a little shy, it was entertaining to see her
aggressive behavior behind the drum kit. The band hit their sweet
spot with songs such as “Sharkbite” and “Ghost of Bo Diddley”.
Closing the show with the latter song, Moselle let the confines of her
drum throne to wander about the floor of the Demo, while shaking a
tambourine, an act that truly defines the true free spirit of this
band. Thanks to Angie Carlson and Crushed Out for allowing MTC access
to this show. Pictures of the show are below:
Contributed by Duane Clawson
Crushed Out @ The Demo, St. Louis, MO
Reviewed by Scott Rowe, Editor
on
June 13, 2013
Rating:
