Psychic Assassins returns from hiatus
By JOHN BENSON
entertainment@vindy.com
If you go
Who: Psychic Assassins opening for Cereal Banter
When: 10 p.m. Saturday
Where: Cedars Lounge, 23 N. Hazel St., Youngstown.
Info: (330) 743-6560
Psychic Assassins — Drog (vocals, guitar), Mike Donzella (guitar, bass, vocals), Matt Craig (bass, keyboards, vocals) and Bob Young (percussion) — recently decided to take a break.
While attending college was the reason for the hiatus (Donzella attends Kent State University, and his bandmates are at Youngstown State University), the end result was something more introspective for the rock outfit.
“I’ve spent a lot of time during our hiatus studying music theory and kind of studying roots and the history of music,” said Donzella, an Austintown native. “It sort of broadened my vocabulary when it comes to my instrument. I feel I’m a lot stronger player and performer, as opposed to just sort of going off on impressionistic whim, which I usually do.”
In talking to Donzella, it’s obvious he and his bandmates — who all graduated from Austintown Fitch High School in 2005 — not only take music very seriously but also incorporate a cerebral component into their rock style.
“I’d say we’re somewhere between a post-punk revival — sort of coming from the British sense to influences of dance music — and experimental music, post-rock with a little bit of jazz mixed in as well,” Donzella said.
“We’re more trying to almost capture an image, almost like an impressionistic view of our lives or what we’re trying to express through music. So we try to keep it a little bit open.
“And because of that, I think people kind of can get their own ideas out of it. I don’t think it’s pretentious or verbose in its execution. So I think it’s something anybody can listen to and something that you can get up and dance to at times, but at times, it might want to make you stop and think about things as well.”
So far, the act has garnered comparisons to the likes of Interpol or a dancier version of The Strokes; however, the band doesn’t have any official releases other than a few demos. That’s hopefully going to change this summer when the group plans on recording its debut EP, which will include the energetic “A Divergence Theorem,” the haunting “Drowning” and fan-favorite “Street Car Named Desire.”
Finally, Donzella said he’s been surprised to find a unique phenomenon occurring with rock audiences — you know, your typical Nickelback or Breaking Benjamin fan — who unsuspectingly takes in a Psychic Assassins show. The group is scheduled to open for Cereal Banter on Saturday at Cedars Lounge.
“That was something that I necessarily didn’t expect but I started to see happen,” Donzella said. “We played shows in downtown Youngstown with straight-up rock ’n’ roll-blues bands or on a rock bill, and I wouldn’t say that people understood it, but it’s a different sort of vibe people get from it.”