Old Fame
‘Old Fame’
Self-released
Has a Rochester band
ever come up with a better post-rock opener than “No Pain”? For the first two
minutes, the first track from Old Fame’s self-titled debut EP launches guitar,
bass and drums into a trance-like, mid-tempo stride. Then, in the final two
minutes, the song
pushes to stratospheric heights, taking the listener on a stoner-prog journey.
If the music seems to
go everywhere at once, it’s because Old Fame’s mercurial sound reflects the emotionally-charged lyrical content. The varied themes – addiction, resilience, mental
illness, family, and religion – are all interwoven. The quartet’s lo-fi studio
approach doesn’t detract: It pairs rather well with the songwriting, vocal
delivery, and urgency of lead singer Ben Armes, who makes the band punch above its weight class.
This article appears in Feb 6-12, 2019.
