The Demon Beat to bring infectious groove to Huntington

The Demon Beat is finally delivering on a promise made at least a year ago.

I heard the Demon Beat after their first full length album, "Heavy Nasty" and the tracks blew me away with the raw rock and roll simplicity that garage bands made cool in the late 90s. The difference was this band seemed like they may have something to say.

I told the Shepherdstown based band that their sound was desperately needed in the Tri-State and I got a lot of emphatic head-nodding. The Demon Beat didn't make it. Nov. 22, however, the Demon Beat is breaking into the Huntington music scene with a live performance at the Shamrock Pub.

The mini-tour of the surrounding area is going down while the college band takes their Thanksgiving break to promote their new self-titled EP. The new EP is solid rock and roll jams with the grit and dirt of AC/DC with the gentle poetic vulnerability of Bob Dylan.

The EP is a story album through and through, with a twisted angst-ridden tale of love from behind the thumping amplifier. From the radio friendly "Trainwreck" and "I'll Be Your Man" to the rest of the tracks on the EP, which are slightly less independent from the album, each tracks rocks with the promise laid out by "Bad Man."

Across the EP, the easiest influences to hear are Weezer, Kings of Leon and the Rolling Stones. I'd tell you more about the album, but I don't care if you buy the album or not, I want you to come to the Shamrock on Nov. 22, so let me tell you a bit more about The Demon Beat, the band.


The band is composed of three rock and roll connoisseurs, Adam Meisterhans manning the guitar and vocals, Tucker Riggleman driving the bass guitar and Jordan Hudkins sits behind the drums with sticks in hand.

The vocals are inflected with a pain and urgency usually reserved for the early black blues masters such as Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters, but with a decisively modern edge. Meisterhans wails and moans on every track. When he does dial down the grunge in his voice, he sounds strained and demanding. It's the sort of emotional ride you may have thought only came with dating an addiction-addled 20-something.

The guitar work is less frenzied, yet still chaotic. The guitar is all over the spectrum and definitely flies from the handle from time to time, but maintains a beautiful complexity that let's the listener know Meisterhans could play just about anything he wants. It just so happens what he wants his straight rock and roll with a blistering bite.

Riggleman reminds the world that blues and rock has deep roots in soul music. He lays down some of the very few bass lines that actually stick with you after listening. Not content to simply fall in line with the rest of the band, Riggleman's use of the bass often substitutes and exceeds points where many bands may have just put in a simple, stereotypical rhythm guitar part.

The drums crash at every beat. They are silent when they are should be. Hudkins holds the band together with alternating sessions of simply keeping the beat and blowing it out of the water. Well before singing along with a Demon Beat track, you are more likely to be drumming on your desk or steering wheel with Hudkins. Good luck keeping up.

As with most reviews, you probably learned far less about this band from reading this than you ever would from listening to a few of their tunes. Luckily, despite revivalist musicianship, they are modern enough to maintain a MySpace page where you can hear The Demon Beat for yourself.

Check 'em out. Final words? It's rock and roll that you just may love. Your dad may just love it too. Your mom may even dance a little bit. If you like blues, soul and rock and roll, or if you just love seeing some young men with passion play like they are desperate not to be dragged away by the devil himself, you're going to have a real good time with these guys.