Discovery Zone/Hour of the Shipwreck @ The Echo, 3/17

Remember back in high school when you'''d go support your friend'''s band whenever it played out in town? You knew deep down that the band wasn'''t going anywhere, maybe you didn'''t even like the music all that much, and that it was doomed to break up soon or stay on the pay-for-play circuit forever. Now imagine if that high school band was fucking awesome, played at cool venues, and had the potential to do something important if the band members would just focus on making music instead of furthering their pesky educational goals. That'''s the situation with Discovery Zone, a progressive rock quintet that emerged from the creativity-fostering environment of Oakwood School in North Hollywood (this journo'''s alma mater). It'''s rare when musicians so young can assimilate so many sounds '' among Discovery Zone'''s clear influences are early Pink Floyd, Tool, and the entire Ipecac Recordings catalog '' and forge something dynamic and intelligent of their own. This band has done it. The three tracks on the DZ'''s Myspace page hint at the band'''s range, but you gotta see them live - wildman vocalist Jamie Landau (pictured) is a monster performer, with a Maynard-meets-Patton flexibility and a caged gorilla inside, just waiting to be unleashed. We'''ve written about Hour of the Shipwreck multiple times in these pages, and the band remains an easy recommendation. HOTS have slowly shed some of the pirate-rock trappings of yesteryear, and as the schtick moves out, a whole realm of possibilities opens. Songs are as winding and through-composed as always, but now they'''re electric in all senses of the word. Hour of the Shipwreck doesn'''t avoid rocking out anymore. And neither should you. (ER)
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