100 ONCES

— First review of this album —

Famous in Japan, but live in Pasadena... The duo of Barrett Tuttobene (guitar) and Richard Ray (drums) is joined by bassist Nick Van Meter for a recording of this concert performed at the Terrace in Pasadena on March 8, 2012.

I found this group's debut album a harsh-sounding affair, while their 2013 studio album was an impressive instrumental guitar rock album. This live offering falls in between both studio albums as a download on the band's Bandcamp page. Interesting enough, it features songs from both albums. The music is as energetic as the studio albums, but unfortunately suffers from a poor recording and what seems to be a crowd of a dozen people (?). Alas, experimental music suffers from this sort of thing.

Anyway, this one is as harsh sounding as the group's debut (which has a bit of a sloppy, demo feel to it). I would recommend starting with their 2013 album before downloading this. For fans only.

After listening to their debut and feeling rather indifferent about 100 Onces' harsh-sounding instrumental guitar rock, I gave their new 2013 release called 100 One Says a listen and was remarkably impressed. The duo of Barrett Tuttobene (guitar) and Richard Ray (drums) this time incorporated bass into their sound. This really improved their overall sound. But that wasn't the only improvement. Compositionally, the instrumentals on this album are much more thought out, much more intricate, use repeating themes effectively, and are just a thrill and enjoyment to listen to.

The harshness of the previous album is missing almost entirely and is replaced with a complex heavy sound interspersed with calmer sections and rather intricate melodies and riffs. The drum work keeps up with the frantic pace of the guitar work. Each song is packed with toe-tapping energy. When one is looking for a good instrumental guitar rock album, this one fits the bill very well.

I'm really at a loss at finding comparable groups worth mentioning. Sometimes I get that Swedish vibe (think Anekdoten's guitar work), but sometimes it seems like what Gentle Giant would have put together if they were a hard rock instrumental band. Tuttobene's guitar work is on par with some of the greats in today's prog world and if he continues making albums like this, the prog world ought to take notice.

An enjoyable listen. Easily worth four stars.

100 Onces Is is the debut album by the duo 100 Onces. The duo is made up of just Barrett Tuttobene on guitars and Richard Ray on drums. Although that sounds like a sparse arrangement of instruments, the music by this duo is by no means sparse in any sense of the word. Their music is highly energetic and full of sound. Although labeled as math rock, a genre of which I'm not really familiar with, there are moments where the music approaches the complexity of a Robert Fripp (think 1980s King Crimson), moments where it matches the intensity and metallic side of Alex Lifeson (think early Rush), and other times more modern prog metal (think Tool as an example), and even a bit of jazz rock.

Although I found this an interesting listen, it isn't really my cup of tea. I found a lot of the guitar work a bit too harsh for my taste. There is nothing wrong with guitar work being harsh when it needs to fit a particular mood, but on 100 Onces Is I'm left with the impression that it's often being played harshly just for the sake of being harsh. I think it upsets the balance of what might have been a much better collection of songs. On the other side, the drumming is very well done throughout the album.

Another weakness are the three tracks that don't fit with the rest of the album: How 100 Onces Was Formed, 400 Quads, and 900 [%*!#] It. These are just goof-off pieces messing around with sounds and sound effects.

This duo has a lot of talent, but it would be interesting to hear what they would sound like if they had a bassist and keyboardist on board (or even some other instrument just for the sake of breaking up the monotony of harsh guitar riffs). Those interested in harsh-sounding guitar rock might find this interesting.