It’s been three years since Counter Clockwise savagely rocked Monterey Bay and beyond. Lead singer Roman Sevaaetasi cites the relocation of their former bass player, Bernie Lanoue, to Vermont and fatigue from constant West Coast tours as the reasons for their hiatus.
The impetus for their reunion in spring of this year was a simple phone call from guitarist Jason Schühlein to Sevaaetasi asking, “Hey, man, are we still a band?”
A few calls to drummer Reggie Badinni and the addition of bass player Randy Dowdy, and the band was rehearsing “Kool Aid,” one of their favorite tunes from their second album,Dance On My Grave, released in 2009.
They still kick off their sets with the rabid, hyper-speed anthem that cautions its listeners – “Don’t drink the dead man’s lies” and “Don’t stop the cat in black coming back from a face plant” – but the group is most ravenous to play its new material. Their first show back at the Blue Fin in Monterey in June won big positivity from fans.
“[The audience] was in awe,” Sevaaetasi says. “They’re like, ‘This is a different Counter Clockwise than we’ve seen before. This is more intense.’”
He credits stronger storytelling in the lyrics and the improved instrumental arrangements by Schühlein for the fuller, louder, deeper and more melodic sound.
“The music is sexier,” he says. “You listen to it and you’re turned on.”
Sevaaetasi’s vocals have also deepened, to a more guttural place. Another fresh ingredient to their sonic stew is the addition of Dowdy on bass, who belongs to the Salinas punk outfit Hate for State.
“He plays the bass really damn fast and is great with harmonies,” Sevaaetasi says. “I want to get him on the mic.”
Pushed to sum up the band’s heightened synergy, Sevaaetasi turns to pop culture allegory.
“Playing together is like being in that scene from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” he says. “They went back in time, learned to play great rock on the way, returned to the future with long beards and just rocked like never before.”
Counter Clockwise plans to release their yet-to-be-titled third album early next year. In the meantime, they headline the all-metal evening at the Blue Fin on Cannery Row Saturday. Watsonville thrash metal band StormBat kicks off the hard-as-iron evening, followed by San Francisco headbangers Mudface.
COUNTER CLOCKWISE 9pm Saturday, Oct. 3, Blue Fin Billiards, 685 Cannery Row, Monterey. $5. 717-4280
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