Today we’re bringing you a full album stream of Powers That Be, the new 7” from Las Vegas hardcore band Acid Rain.
If the band’s lineup looks familiar to you, it’s because their members have been a part of the Vegas music scene for many years. “Everyone minus Richard [Vanderstelt] played together in Value and one day we just said we wanted to play in a thrash influenced band” explains Acid Rain frontman Dan Murphy. “I’ve known Richard for over a decade and Fidel Romero had played with him in The Letter You so we started jamming together. The songwriting process is pretty communal. Fidel usually handles most of the booking and business. Ian [Caramanzana] is a social media mogul. Richard is band treasurer. My job is making funny faces.”
Like Value, Acid Rain is a simple-yet-striking name, but also one that makes finding info on the band online a task for only the most experienced Googler. “Fidel thought of the name one day,” says Murphy. “We thought it sounded pretty metal so went with it. I think we all don’t care for it anymore though. It’s also pretty hard to find any information on our band online cause Avenged Sevenfold has a song with that name.”
You can tell right away that the band takes much of their influence from bands like Cro Mags, Trapped Under Ice, Power Trip, Take Offense, etc., but you might be surprised where the lyrics come from. According to Murphy, “Lyrically I take a lot of influence from Foundation and The National.”
The album was recorded with producer/engineer Paul Miner, who was behind the board for a few of Murphy’s favorite records. “It was cool [working with Paul Miner]. We did it in a day and were very fortunate to have done it so quickly. He was very nice and was very flexible. My favorite record he’s done probably has to be Trapped Under Ice Big Kiss Goodnight. I just looked through his credits and he also did Thrice’s Identity Crisis which is pretty cool too.”
If you like what you hear in this stream, you can pre-order a physical copy of Powers That Be on limited vinyl via Head2Wall Records for just $5, and you can catch the band live at East Side Joe’s on June 18.
Powers That Be Release Show
Lineup: Acid Rain, Presagers and more
Date: June 18
Location: East Side Joe’s
When we reached out to Dan Murphy to talk about Powers That Be, he went above and beyond the call of duty and answered a few questions that we didn’t ask him. If you’d like his opinion on Game of Thrones, or who his favorite Chopped judge is, keep reading.
Thoughts on Game of Thrones?
Glad you brought this up: I hate that show. It’s literally trash. I would rather watch the O’Reilly Factor.
Who do you think will win the NBA championship?
It’s definitely a lesser of two evils thing for me, I’m a Knicks fan. I think the Cleveland LeBrons are gonna win, though I’d rather the Warriors won.
Favorite judge from popular Food Network television show Chopped?
I really enjoy Scott Conant’s judging and commenting, although he can be judgmental in the bad way. I enjoy Alex Guarneschelli (or Alex Cornishgamehen as me and my roommate call her). She’s fair, but leans very heavy on the usage of butter the chefs use. I could do without chef Aaron Sanchez, his hand tattoos are very ugly to look at. There’s too many good judges. I don’t know…next question.
Favorite Las Vegas based punk website featuring sweet interviews with bands and pics and stuff?
Punks In Vegas, hands down. Steven is the man.
Awww, thank you, Dan!
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