While the return of the prodigal psychobilly son may be a bit romantic, it wasn't be far off when Paul Roman and the Quakes returned to Western New York in late April for three shows, two here in Buffalo and one in Rochester.
The Quakes, with Roman on guitar and vocals, newest Quake Jason Van Cleve on bass and his brother, Chris Van Cleve, on drums, played in Buffalo April 25, at Mohawk Place, 47 E. Mohawk St., with That 1 Guy and the Afterbirth Tycoon opening, ventured to Rochester to play at the Mercury Bar, 171 St. Paul St., April 26, and returned to Buffalo to play at the original band's (bassist/vocalist Rob Peltier now plays with The Irving Klaws while drummer Dave ``The Ace'' Hoy was killed when he was hit by a car) virtual home for years, the Continental, 212 Franklin St., April 27.
Roman, who noted that the band does not play rockabilly, but instead hyperamphetamined paced psychobilly, spoke in early April from his Phoenix, Arizona, home where he looked forward to the shows before The Quakes returned to Europe to play the second Perky Night Festival in Germany May 18, all the while supporting a new CD, ``Last of the Human Beings,'' on their own Crazy Love Records (the band recorded several albums for Nervous Records as well as one, ``New Generation,'' for Sony Japan).
``The Western New York shows are a warm up for the festival in Germany; we're not a real band and such (right now), but we play two to three times a year,'' he said. ``It's fun, but there is probably a time when you should stop; a prime example is Mick Jagger and his enormous media blitz (for his new solo CD). There will come a time where I’ll be too old and will have to change material; how can you be Metallica and still have all that angst? We don't.
``(On the new CD) We didn't do too good a job on production, but I thought the songs were good; we will bring some to sell at our shows,'' Roman added. ``It is all new material, and our back catalogue is all available, including vinyl with full gate sleeves; the new one was issued on vinyl by a German company with five songs remixed.''
The Quakes started in late 1986, and were known for their determination, sweat and wild shows.
``We were naive, but we thought we'd be successful; we couldn't play at the time and the scene was rather small,'' Roman said. ``The reason we played with such intensity was that we couldn't play our instruments too well; hell, that's why we jumped around so much. We used to play the first slot on Thursday at the Continental, and we asked Bud (Burke, the late notorious/legendary club owner/manager) if we could get a better slot and play on a Friday or Saturday. He said that if we could ever play our instruments, we could.''
For those people wondering what Roman is doing out in Phoenix, he was his usual tightlipped self on personal matters: ``Just working, like everyone else. The record label takes a lot of time.'' He added that the label may release more than just Quakes’ music, possibly a compilation CD.
``Our fans branch out a little more than just rockabilly. I'm surprised how many people know us, especially in the west; I've been asked to play on the West Coast,'' Roman said. ``Were going to do some of the material from all of the albums (in Buffalo). It's not going to be a rockabilly show; the purists may not like it too much, but it is psychobilly.''
The band's Web site can be found at www.thequakes.com.