The Heavy Pets | 11.02.07 | Philly
By Team JamBase Nov 16, 2007 • 12:00 am PST

The Heavy Pets :: 11.02.07 :: The M Room :: Philadelphia, PA
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I had delved deeply into the band’s debut record Whale, an ambitious double album, subsequent to their late summer Kyber show and was much more familiar with the tunes and style of this throwback group this time around. Throwback? I say that because this is a jam band, first and foremost, as Dennis Cook aptly described in his Whale review. These complete trappings of clichéd jam band wankery initially rubbed me the wrong way. I, like many, have moved away from the cookie-cutter jam band mold after a certain favorite group broke up just over three years ago. Nothing else of that nature has really struck my fancy, and in the beginning The Heavy Pets did not either.
However, good music is good music. Beyond the labels and genres, and certainly beyond message board tomfoolery, The Heavy Pets are in essence wearing their passions and idols on their sleeves. I began to embrace that ethos as the people over at Brotherly Love/Jason Abrams Productions went the extra mile to bring this new buzz band back to Philly despite the lack of a guaranteed packed room.
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A recent Relix feature on the group had also piqued my curiosity, making me wonder if I was somehow missing something. The rave reviews all over the net and from friends who worshipped at the same Green Mountain altar I once did had to hold some water. Indeed they did. After much prodding, sometimes blind allegiance to a band can seem annoying if you do not feel that group is on any sort of serious level. Yet, when the Pets started playing in Philadelphia an innocence and passion shone through. I no longer rejected their steez and style, but welcomed it as a familiar breath. Sure, there was no new ground covered this evening, and many of the songs and sounds hark back to that favorite jam band of yesteryear, right down to the Languedoc-like guitar tones of Jeff Lloyd. Yet, the lack of pretension and the Pets’ joyous, unadulterated love of performing were at the forefront all night. The band was a machine, reeling off raging rockers, reggae-lite and some choice serenity. Songs I enjoyed and were well received by the ever-housequaking audience included “Off the Rails,” “Pleasure Tank” and my personal fave, “Help Me Help You,” their most fully-realized, well-written song with choice, exciting jam elements and an undeniable hook.
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On the other hand, The Pets are damn near robbing some ideas, passages and whole lot of style from the Vermonsters, and paying homage can become biting after a while. These boys can write a song and have a boatload of talent. I sincerely hope they begin to find their own voice. Then, the sky is the limit for this dedicated bunch.
Yet, like any show, it was not all peaches and regalia. Drummer Ryan Neuberger seemed a bit out of place in this setting, a far cry from his tasteful, humble (read: well produced, mixed and engineered) playing throughout Whale. The acoustics at the M-Room left something to be desired, but that was partially alleviated by the incredible crowd and the cool vibe that permeated the venue. The Pets did their best to put on a banging two-set show. They are not yet where they want to be, and certainly fall victim to countless jam band clichés. However, The Heavy Pets are not anything to sneeze at. They wear their ambition tattooed on their sleeve, and the sheer elation when they lock in, and dare I say, jam out is worth looking past any growing pains.
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