N.J. band is far from broken

By Casey Sky Noon

Known for their endless touring, traveling everywhere from Florida to Colorado, the five North Jersey men of the band We.re All Broken (WAB) made it a point to return to the Court Tavern in New Brunswick, N.J., once again for a timelessly evocative set over Halloween weekend.

Even though it has played this hole-in-the-wall venue in the center of the hole-in-N.J. that is New Brunswick, the band members played as if the show were the biggest of their careers.

Whether jamming in a rundown shackle of a rehearsal studio buried in the ghetto of Paterson, performing with the band Thursday at CBGB’s in New York City, with Canderia at the Knitting Factory or at VFWs, firehouses, basements, churches and high schools across the country, WAB consistently puts on an experience of a show.

The cellar beneath Church Street was packed with men and women, who unfortunately thought they were too cool for costumes with the exception of a single Elvira and one lone gypsy.

As if summoned by the stage’s gravitational pull, the bar crowd crammed into the front row and, despite both the time and its blood alcohol content levels, was incredibly energetic, enthusiastic and expressive.

Before WAB played the first note of the song “Ambrosia,” hoots, hollers and cheers rang out. After the third or fourth riff of one of the band’s catchiest songs, everyone danced about as if being pumped with adrenaline at each beat. The band played five songs off of its must-have full-length album entitled, Campaign Moving Slow, released by Fidelity Records in 2004.

Joey Pedulla impressed his listeners by drumming on top of a recorded beat played for the entirety of a song entitled “The Red Carpet Welcome.” The thick percussion sound created was an enigma that quickly and incessantly pushed and pulled the audience with an unbelievably manipulative power.

On guitar, Jarett Quintana created a heavy sound that was rare and exceptional in that each and every song had a distinct distortion of beauty and an unforgettable flavor of feeling. With impressive flexibility and jumping height, Quintana also helped to build a youthful and fun stage presence for a band that creates undoubtedly mature music.

Adding a throbbing to songs such as “Hail Vagabond Bride,” Joe Sudano’s bass lines pulsed brightly from beneath, forming a unique undertow of character. Theatrically mouthing lyrics and diving into the spectator sea, Sudano forced his audience to participate in WAB’s emotionally unruly and musically rebellious revolution.

A dictionary example of becoming one with an instrument, Frank Giokas sensuously fingered his guitar with a love that was evident to the most untrained eye. Beginning “Baltimore” with an echoing riff that is somehow nostalgic every time, Giokas took hostage the reality receptors that prevent a person from fully falling into the fantasy. His wild dreads and habit of spitting to the ceiling furthered this air of unbridled musical immersion.

Atop these rolling song structures, Warren Swan’s sweet voice of reason spoke directly to his listeners in the most intimate and raw of ways. Having mastered the art of phraseology, Swan’s “I seen everything change and everything changes” later reverberated in the hollow grottos of the mind. Switching gears, the front man also screamed with a more expressive intensity than that of the best of mainstream hardcore bands.

Altogether, the angular songs of this spacey, post hardcore, Indie rock band are filled with splendor, power and fervor. If nothing else captured listeners, WAB’s harmonies and dual vocal parts unquestionably left the crowd simultaneously begging for resolution and more.

With atmospheric sample-work creating an ominously dark scene, the band’s set perfectly fit this Halloween dungeon show.