Ettison Clio is like gossip floating from ear to lip - they quickly gain "whispering status" as their tunes become juicier and their fan base more widespread.
If you're asking yourself who Ettison Clio is, and you're a MSU student - shame on you. Get out of that dorm hole you've been snubbing yourself in and experience culture and entertainment, for the love of God!
But, for the lost, Ettison Clio is one of the many bands that was birthed after the emo generation fell off its rocker. Their music is a speed freak's best friend - fast leading guitar parts, lots of clean distortion on the six strings, rolling drum pieces and a female lead singer whose voice is strikingly similar to Dance Hall Crashers' leading lady Elyse Rogers.
The Clios - as they call themselves on their Web site, www.ettisonclio.com - have struggled for years with lead vocalists and drummers leaving the group, but finally in 2002, after many auditions and recommendations, Ettison Clio was formed. For good.
The band - comprised of communication junior and State News employee John Ostler on drums, Brian Roop on guitar, J.P. Niemiec on the other guitar, Jared Nisch on bass and vocals provided by Stephanie Gunther - is releasing its first full-length studio album on Friday, and will be having a CD release party Saturday inside the International Center.
But for Ettison Clio, as much as their roots are embedded in Lansing, they are by no means a representation of only local jam-band sound, such as many Lansing groups are.
"This is for the Blue Collars" reaches deep within hardcore music and pulls out a heart that is still beating through Gunther's high-pitched, female vocals. Although at points on the disc Gunther's voice seems to be stretched a bit farther than she would like, for the most part, the matching of feminine and masculine on the album works just fine.
Track 11, "Ash in the Engine," shows us how the Clios can compromise the hard drums and rhythm-grinding guitars backing Gunther's soft voice.
This is one of the tracks where Gunther pushes her vocals too far. She does this by stretching out words and hitting notes that are almost out of her reach. Her uncanny ability to capture the listener in her storytelling lyrics is hardest to hear on this track.
The only lyrics decipherable while listening are: "I've given you all of me."
From that one simple line, we can tell the story's a familiar breakup tale. It would be nice to know more, but you literally can't understand the vocals.
The craziest aspect of Ettison Clio's first release is the order of the songs. They all rock, but when first listening to the disc from beginning to end, the end packs more of a punch than the beginning.
In fact, if you play the disc from end to beginning, it almost plays out a bit more well-rounded, but now I'm just nit-picking.
Because, when it comes down to the bottom line, Ettison Clio has given the masses a 12-track collection of crisp, smooth songs that they can totally rock out to and, at the same time, admire.
They're a local band who has made it to the top, and now, let's just hope they can hold on and go even further.
If you liked this band, you might also like: Dance Hall Crashers.
Suggested listening: With some friends, before a show or a party. This is high energetic music, so be prepared to dance.
