The Giraffes - The Giraffes

Genre rock Publisher Razor & Tie External Links Official Website Razor & Tie

The Giraffes hail from Brooklyn, NY. But don't go thinking they're another indie rock band that wear envelope-thin jeans and blazers ala The Strokes. Nope. They're a metal band. A metal band whose lead singer holds a masters in fine art from NYU. If you were thinking that a masters in fine art translates to deep lyrics or art-rock metal, you're wrong. It's a straight up the middle metal record. Guitars blaze in the background; percussion hammers away while the lyrics aren't so much sung as screamed. If that sounds negative, then you obviously aren't a metal fan.

Lead singer Aaron Lazar has a raspy voice that serves the atmosphere of the music, but vocally is probably capable of much more subtle work as well. Guitarist Damien Paris's guitar dominates the tracks with high-powered riffs and fills, but doesn't forget to include some single-note melody lines, which lends more dimensions to the songs.

Some reviews mention The Who and Metallica as obvious influences or as having a similar sound, but that's not what I was hearing. Damien Paris and Andrew Totolos (drums) formed the band in the early 90s, and that didn't surprise me, as my ears picked up a more striking similarity with Faith No More, especially on the track "Haunted Heaven."

The Giraffe's bio describes them as a band that "are here to play music as loud, as nasty and unapologetically rock as they can." That is what they do on their self-titled ten-track release. This isn't a record that's going to bridge the gap between metal fans and indie rock fans, but it might surprise a few indie fans that are looking for something a little rawer, louder and dirtier than the next Louis XIV that comes down the pike.