Tsar
Band-Girls-Money
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Band-Girls-Money

How odd that a rock band can be an anachronism in this day and age. In the case of Tsar, TVT Records’ newest family member, they’re emerging onto the national scene in an era of Mancunian moping and Gang of Four idolatry. Somehow, tried-and-true rock 'n' roll fundamentals have been fallen by the wayside. Tsar is that rare band that isn’t easily categorized, or easily swayed by trends.

“My brothers are all proud rockers,” sings frontman Jeff Whalen in the blistering “Startime,” one of ten songs on Tsar’s debut, Band-Girls-Money. Part glam sex-pose, part punk sneer, part pop craftsmanship, Band-Girls-Money synthesizes decades of music history and combines with contemporary zeal to create three-minute bursts of energy.

To their fans, Tsar represents many things. “We're a hall of mirrors,” Whalen explains. “We're whatever the listener hears in us. Punk kids will come up to us and say, 'Oh, man, you guys are such a great punk band!' Rock fans will say, 'I'm glad there's a band that still plays rock and roll.' For some reason everybody sees something different in us.”

The savvy listener will hear traces of power pop legends Cheap Trick and Sweet, as well as the three-chord attack of the Dead Boys, the glam appeal of T-Rex and the Dolls, and the showmanship of Alive-era KISS. Whalen, the band’s primary songwriter, has a pure bubblegum past – and you can hear that, too. His favorite bands are The Monkees, The Archies and Tommy James. “I have a belief that all really great bands are not the genre the people associate them with. They're actually pop bands. It's always the bands with good songs that outlast any trends or styles.”

Combine Whalen’s countless hours with such a record collection with Tsar’s here-and-now sound and you’ve got music that’s utterly contemporary, completely free of stereotype and above all pure rock. “With us, it's kind of impossible to say what kind of music we are other than rock and roll,” he says.

Formed in Los Angeles, Tsar released its debut, self-titled album on Hollywood Records in the summer of 2000. After finding emancipation last summer, the band moved to the greener pastures of TVT Records and prepared for the release of the more gritty, powerful follow-up, Bands-Girls-Money.

Bands-Girls-Money proves Tsar to be a taut, explosive alliance. Guitarist Dan Kern lashes out with power chords and is a master of the well-timed hook that sticks in the listener’s head. Drummer Chuck Byler, who joined the band in the summer of 2004, and bass player Derrick Forget, who joined in January of this year, propel the songs with force and precision.

The title track is about the band’s priorities: bands, girls and money – in that order. Much of the album has themes of railing against the system and going out on a limb. In “Conqueror Worm,” inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s poem of the same name, the worm is “culture or the system or the music business.” “Startime” asks those who would rather lay down, “Why don’t you go home and watch some TiVo?” In the riff-heavy “Superdeformed,” Whalen distances himself from the self-pitying masses by singing “I don’t want to drown in a sea of sorrow.”

There are a few boy-girls songs, too – this is rock and roll after all. “Love Explosion” is a love song set to a sing-along chorus. The album’s closer, “You Can’t Always Want What You Get,” finishes the album on a more gentle note.

Seeing them play live is the best way to appreciate this well-oiled sonic machine. In their native city of LA, crowds have grown to appreciate the band’s energetic gigs. A “Tsar” sign straight out of a Vegas chorus line’s dressing room flashes behind the four members’ sweaty performance. The PA system strains under the force of dual guitar distortion and a pummeled bass. It’s rock showmanship. Short songs and long on emotion.

“You wanna get that rock and roll desire,” explains Whalen of performing on stage. “It's really powerful. It involves embracing the ludicrousness of what's happening. I'm going to stand up here and dance around and everybody's gonna look at me. The times you really enjoy the show are the times you really don't know what you're doing and nothing is planned. When it's working, it's a great symbiosis.”

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