THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 16, 1995 TAG: 9504130198
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 23 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: John Harper
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
Thrillcat is a band not afraid to wear its musical influences on its albums' sleeves.
Ask the guys in the three-member band who they're ``into'' and you'll hear a who's who of rock and soul: Talking Heads, Beatles, XTC, Stevie Wonder, Huey Lewis, Prince and Pat Metheny.
In other words, take progressive new rock, add some soul and close harmony singing, and you have Thrillcat.
The group, now on the road in support of its second album, ``Green Thumb,'' stops for a show at The Port O'Call in Kill Devil Hills on April 29.
Thrillcat first hit in 1990. The trio of drummer Doug Grober, bassist Mike Brayton and guitarist Bill Rocomora, features both Mike and Bill on lead vocals.
The two singers met at Brown University in Providence, R.I. They moved to New York in 1989 to join Doug, Mike's childhood friend, to form Thrillcat.
The boys in the band are not offended by the labels ``alternative'' or ``pop.'' They straddle the line between the two, occasionally falling on one side or the other.
``It doesn't seem to matter what stance we take,'' Brayton says. ``People just want to hear a Thrillcat song.''
While the band's first album, ``Oneword,'' featured mostly pop-flavored tunes, the new album exposes a different Thrillcat sound.
``Green Thumb'' is harder with less polish.
`` `Oneword' was definitely more produced,'' Brayton says. ``This time it's just the three of us playing live in the studio.''
The album took just five days to record.
Brayton says the band wasn't even sure if it had an album after laying down its seven tracks.
Thrillcat records for the Texas-based Justice Records, primarily a jazz and blues label. But the rhythm section of Grober and Brayton has one foot in the jazz door.
One song on the new album, ``In Your Garden,'' sounds like an outtake from Sting's last album.
Another song, ``King of the Mountain,'' is hard-edged and grungy.
``Yes, we rock out a little bit on this album,'' Brayton says. ``We wanted the record to get airplay in different formats.''
The strangest song on ``Green Thumb'' is ``Partial to Pansies,'' sung by Brayton in a Rudy Vallee-ish voice. Brayton's grandmother co-wrote the song.
It's the real deal: sweet, heartfelt and sincere. Not too many bands record songs written by their grandmothers. But it's what makes this band so good; you never know what to expect.
Harmonies, grunge, alternative, funk, jazz, rock 'n' roll - come to Port O' Call on April 29 and see what Thrillcat drags in. MEMO: John Harper covers Outer Banks entertainment for The Carolina Coast.
Send comments and questions to him at P.O. Box 10, Nags Head, N.C.
27959.
by CNB