Attitudinal, artistic, freakish, creative, obnoxious, ingenious, roguish – these are but a few of the printable adjectives for NY-based rabble-rousers Sweet Cyanide. The quartet create singular hard rock that’s not retro homage, but great, timeless...
Attitudinal, artistic, freakish, creative, obnoxious, ingenious, roguish – these are but a few of the printable adjectives for NY-based rabble-rousers Sweet Cyanide. The quartet create singular hard rock that’s not retro homage, but great, timeless pop-based songs with a heavy, dark modern twist… that’s often twisted. As singer/guitarist Sal Scoca states, “I want Sweet Cyanide to sound like we just got dropped here from space. As a kid, I really believed KISS was KISS and Bowie was his persona. I want people to feel that strongly about the uniqueness and power of Sweet Cyanide.” Scoca, a Bronx-bred music obsessive, worships theatrical, before-his-time rock like ELO, early Alice Cooper, and T. Rex, and is joined by kindred spirits on both the musical and decadence level: If New York had a Sunset Strip rock scene, Sweet Cyanide would be its Guns N’ Roses, circa 1987.
Sweet Cyanide was spawned in late 2008 in an explosive collision of two respected NYC bands -- Crashbox (featuring Scoca and bassist Angelo Fariello) -- and Moment Theory, with drummer Mike Bambace and guitarist Joe Salvatore. In fact, Sweet Cyanide’s self-titled 10-song debut kicks off with the self-referential “Crash Theory,” honoring the band’s creation with dynamic, propulsive heavy rock, scorching solos, and even a Middle Eastern moment. Musical savant Scoca has absorbed everything from Marilyn Manson, Billy Joel to Saigon Kick and the Kinks, creating exceptional, timeless songs with an approach that’s at once cohesive and dramatic. There’s room for everything from soulful female vocals to kazoo solos to boozy, valium-influenced lyrical introspection.
Sweet Cyanide is comprised of four individualistic, yet united stimulation junkies. “All four of us are literally insane—but each in a totally different way,” laughs Angelo Fariello. The bassist grew up idolizing Nikki Sixx, Paul McCartney and Gene Simmons, and loves that SC’s live show is “like a punch in the face.” He terms Scoca an evil genius, getting inside your head and making you believe you’re orange.
Six-string partner Joe Salvatore is often referred to as a mad scientist with incredible intelligence. Salvatore’s guitar speaks volumes, creating ambient textures and colors, inspired by artists like Deftones and Tom Morello, creating an edgy unease in the band’s music. “I like a continuous uncertainty where you might not get a resolve,” Salvatore explains.
Holding down the fort is hard-hitting drummer Mike Bambace, who, like his bandmates, is a KISS fanatic. Bambaces real influence as a player and performer is due to John Bonham, Bill Ward and Tommy Lee.
On Sweet Cyanide, they’ve taken it a long way. Typical of the self-proclaimed “insanity,” Scoca wrote the entire album in order. The first song penned was CD opener Crash Theory through to the album’s final song, When We Were Young. Scoca explains, “I write full records; I need that great opening song to get a record going. My mind works in mysterious ways.” Scoca “took a mental trip to Italy to write the song When We Were Young with the thought if the world was going to end tomorrow, what would he do? It was recorded in Scoca’s bedroom with two mics, and you can hear his dog’s collar jangling in the song.
The band tracked most of Sweet Cyanide in a haunted studio in New York, hence the mysterious humming in the song Black & White. They welcome any influence, mystical or not. Certain Shadows On The Wall was taken from a Rod Serling’s Night Gallery episode; Billy Childs from Britny Fox plays bass on Between Us, while I Wish U Would is line that was used on Scoca by an ex-girlfriend turning it into a Raspberries-meets-Badfinger 60s retro jam.
The band members bring impressive accomplishments to Sweet Cyanide, giving the lineup a killer starting point: In Crashbox, Scoca and company sold more than 5,000 albums, earned airplay on 400 stations, with the single, Drown hitting #6 on the FMQB charts. Moment Theory’s single, Calling Shotgun was spun on WDHA and WRKI, and recognized by Billboard’s independent songwriter’s contest. Expectations and success are even higher for Sweet Cyanide, whose Crash Thoey is on Metal Edge's March compilation, with Sweet Cyanide picked up by Steve Vai's Favored Nations.
