VCR

Envisioning a headlong clash between the angular new-wave quirks of Devo and the hyperactive dance-punk of !!!, or picturing what the Screamers might have sounded like had they formed in a Southern college town at the turn of the millennium, VCR channels gleeful punk chaos through a battery of inexpensive synthesizers instead of guitars. The resulting barrage of electronic bleeps, buzzes, and shrieks rides atop a high-velocity bass-and-drums foundation, a style the band itself labels “adventure funcore.” Its members first crossed paths in Richmond, Virginia, most of them deliberately abandoning their earlier musical habits: lead singer and keyboardist Chad Middleton had previously played drums in multiple groups, guitarist-turned-bassist Steve Smith switched instruments after years on six strings, and Casey Tomlin arrived from hip-hop and electronic projects. Completing the lineup are drummer Christian Newby and keyboardist Mya Anitai. The group began woodshedding in November 2002, surfaced for its first public performance at a friend’s birthday party in May 2003, and quickly became known on the local punk circuit for unpredictable, high-energy shows that might involve flinging cereal boxes into the crowd or unleashing electro-treated Misfits covers on Halloween. In August 2003 the musicians tracked their debut EP during a continuous seventy-two-hour session at a friend’s home studio; the initial pressing of one hundred copies somehow reached the independent punk label Side One Dummy, which signed the band and issued a reworked edition titled VCR in spring 2005. Producer Jason Laferrera, who had engineered that first EP, arranged inexpensive studio time in Amsterdam through a contact there, enabling VCR to cut its full-length album Power Destiny over twelve comparatively comfortable days. While abroad the group booked shows across Europe, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Switzerland. Power Destiny appeared in spring 2006, supported by extensive touring.