Though two of its members have much higher-profile pedigrees than many of the groups that the Demo2DeRo column addresses–Dan “Vapid” Schafer has played in Screeching Weasel and the Riverdales, as well as leading the Methadones, and Jeff Dean is in the Bomb–their new collaboration with bassist Rick Uncapher (Textbook) and drummer Jimmy Lucido on the debut album “Yeah, Whatever…” could easily be overlooked outside the punk underground, and that would be a shame.
Despite the cheeky, hinting-at-generic sounds moniker, Noise By Numbers draws inspiration from the fertile’80s indie-rock scene of Husker Du, the Replacements, Dinosaur Jr. and their ilk as well as classic Chicago punk sounds like Naked Raygun and the Effigies to inject a heaping dose of sing-along melody into every propulsive and hard-hitting groove, making for an instantly familiar yet somehow distinctive and fresh-sounding formula: Good tunes are timeless, and they’re always welcome.
The band has two impressive gigs in the coming weeks, at the Beat Kitchen on Dec. 4 and opening for Rise Against at Metro on Dec. 18, but a sampling of its songs are streaming now at www.myspace.com/noisebynumbers.
