Rocket Shop 8/22/2012: Vaporizer; One Over Zero; Crooks. Sam's Last Show!

Vaporizer Words by Ben Nordstrom. Photo by Lily Chau.

Tonight on Rocket Shop we had Jake and Eli, the kickass drummer and bassist of the local melodic death metal quintet Vaporizer. Vaporizer’s self-titled EP was released in October of last year, and I gotta say, it’s one of the most solid locally-produced metal albums I’ve heard. The group often plays the weekly Nectar’s event Metal Mondays, organized by Matt Longo, and they’re playing a benefit show for one of our own Big Heavy tour vans Thursday at the monkey house. Jake and Eli are equally as funny as they are brutal, describing the vocals as being similar to those of “a very drunk troll”. Three tracks were played on air, including “Renegade Mage,” “Blood Oak,” and “Horn of the Narwhal”. Vaporizer is well-produced and ridiculously talented, and a welcome addition to the unjustly underrepresented genre that is stoner death metal. Check out Vaporizer here.

In addition, this was also long-time Rocket Shop host Sam’s very last show! Rock on, Sam.

One Over Zero; Crooks Words by Suzanne Friedman. Photo by Lily Chau.

Tonight, Sam’s final show on Rocket Shop (tears) concluded with One Over Zero’s Dan Murphy and Jake Mayers who is the drummer for both One Over Zero and Crooks. The two were a great pair with fantastic energy. They entered the studio with a handful of posters to promote their show at Rootsfest this Sunday which shows how excited they are about it.

Jake , originally from Maryland, moved to Burlington to attend the University of Vermont. He was unable to drum his first year in the dorms and he went crazy, so joining One Over Zero and Crooks has made his Burlington experience very enjoyable. Jake said it is difficult to categorize his band Crooks, but he did his best by using the words, “hip hop bass, strong funk, soul, and latin grooves.”

The first song played was “Dolleh Weh” which was a live performance at Nectars. The song had a reggae, rock mix with driving drum beats, turn table mixes and intense guitar solos. The lyrics were in a Senegal tribal language which kept the ears alert throughout.  Second was “Yaboy” which was freestyled by members of Bless the Child and Crooks. The song had a funky tone and rapping about the band and its writing style. Last was “Sally” which was mainly rap, but complimented by flute which added a unique style that is not east to hear in modern music.

Dan and One Over Zero can be found this Saturday at the Vermont Music Festival in Waitsfield, VT from 12:00pm-10:00pm. Also this Saturday, Jake and Crooks can be found at 9:00pm at Nectars. They will also be at Rootsfest this Sunday, August 26th starting at 2:00pm at Vermont Garden Park at 1100 Dorset St. Crooks also has a blog that can be followed at thehighq.com.

Tonight's show was Samantha "Sam" Donnelly's last as host! She's heading back to UVM where the Fall's class schedule nukes her Wednesday nights. Sam's sticking around, helping at Big Heavy on the crew, but her sunshine-bright personality will be missed during Rocket Shop on The Radiator!