Better the second time around

Some bands need new songwriters. Godboxer is one such band. But that didn't stop the crowd from going wild for the new band during a late Friday night gig at Bill's Bar. This is a band that, on a good night, sounds pretty close to Semisonic (a band near and dear to my heart) but with mind-bending feedback. The source of the noise was the bassist in the corner, a chain-smoking bald-headed 300-pound guy, dubbed "that wrestling dude" by my friend for his strong resemblance to Jesse Ventura _ although probably slightly less prone to controversial politics than Minnesota's governor.

The group is led by two singers/guitarists: Aaron Lippert formerly of Expanding Man, and pop guitarist of the year Jay Barclay, formerly of Miss Fortune. Drummer Mike Levesque has backed up David Bowie and the Candy Butchers, and the group is rounded out by self-named "indie rock" bassist Joe McMahon; who once conducted rock s?©ances with the Clairvoyants. Maybe these guys should have called themselves the band Formerly Known As...

Godboxer could have also called itself "the rock band that's mellow on the outside with heavy metal cream filling overtones on the inside." Translation: get a beer in your hand, start swaying to the music and you'll enjoy yourself. Just ignore the lyrics. Once you've heard one, you've heard them all, since they're along the lines of, "I met a girl and she was cool, so we went out together." Add in a couple of Biblical overtones with a mention of the Garden of Eden and you've got a picture of their lyric-writing ability.

Putting aside the lyrics, this is a band that may be going places, even if it's just because of their resume. After all, Kurt Cobain's lyrics don't exactly make sense and he still did OK.

Godboxer has been compared to Redd Kross crossed with the Who, but I wouldn't say that because I'm an ignorant music listener and I was born way after their heyday. I would prefer to categorize Godboxer more as an Aerosmith/punk combination, since their lead singer is also a skinny dude with a falsetto voice and a guitar, and call them slightly punk since, after all, this band is playing in Boston.

Godboxer is also the only band whose members sling their guitars so low they cover their pelvises, a move not seen since Elvis took up his microphone. I could be wrong, but I'm guessing they may actually get off from their music. It has to be hard for these self-admiring rock stars, since they were just awarded a 2002 Boston Music Awards nomination for Outstanding New Rock Band.

Godboxer is nothing if not charismatic, though. Lippert had me doubling over with laughter at some of his comments in between sets and had me and the rest of the admiring fans in front dancing to his tunes by the end of the five-song debut.

And besides, there has to be a reason they've been called the new hot thing of the year. That would be lead singer Lippert, whose voice that must have been trained in school choir. He has a pretty-boy alto voice that still can reach above the cacophony of feedback and hallucinogenic metal strumming and make his mainstream pop melodies heard. Lippert, however, will forever be known to me and my friend as the falsetto who can sing in registers even I can't reach. The bassist isn't too bad, either, and he makes their songs what they are with the undercurrent of hallucinogenic indie-rock.

So my advice is, if you go to hear this new band is, forget everything I said, go get a few beers in you, mix and enjoy. Just don't expect to come away with any epiphanies from their songs and move your body to the music, like Madonna so wisely advises.