THE ROEBUCKS!! "BUY AMERICAN EP" RELEASE JULY 4, 2010 - Island Def Jam Digital Distribution

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) July 3, 2010 -- NEW YORK, NY---

The powerful five song EP, the Buy American EP by The Roebucks!! has been a long time coming. Though The Roebucks!! have only been a band for a year, they have been friends forever and relatives for forever and a day.

The Roebucks!!, in some shape or form began when brothers Jason “Stohn” (lead vocals, guitar) and Todd Wacha (bass) were pre-teens living in North Florida and were influenced by the sounds of their surroundings, like Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers and what they heard from their dad’s radio.

“Though my parents were from New Jersey they liked the southern sounds. Family nights were spent watching bands on Grand Ole Opry and Hee Haw. And while out and about my dad would sing us old rock-a-billy and country songs, such as Hank Williams and Johnny Cash, and teach us the words to sing along. He also had a bunch of old Sinatra and R&B 45’s in a box that we would break out of the closet and rummage through after going to Radio Shack every few Sunday mornings to get a new needle for our record player. From my mom we got the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Rod Stewart and being a Jersey Girl, of course some Bruce Springsteen. The local Gainesville radio station gave us the southern and classic rock thing, so we were definitely influenced by what we heard no matter where it came from,” said lead vocalist and head Roebuck, Jason Stohn.

At the same time, Jersey Shore drummer Paul Scavuzzo was banging his head since seeing KISS at the Philadelphia Spectrum. Influenced by the hard hitting styles of John Bonham of Led Zeppelin and Stephen Perkins of Jane’s Addiction, Scavuzzo met the North Florida’s version of the Gallagher brothers while he was enrolled in St. Augustine’s Flagler College, where they formed The Gathering and eventually moved to New York City.

As The Gathering, they played iconic rock venues such as CBGB’s and at the original site of Woodstock on its infamous 25th Anniversary. Their sound was reflective of the early 1990’s: dirty bombastic riffs with quiet vocals and rising tempos. Though The Gathering was critically hailed and loved by stoners from the East Village to the Space Coast, they called it quits in 1997.

Scavuzzo moved to San Francisco where he became a fixture on the burgeoning indie scene and played in Bottles and Skulls, The Revolts, The Lungs and Blood Panda. Meanwhile back East, Todd took to illustration, poetry and post-noise guitar work with The White Lodge and Everything Is Fine, and Jersey Shore punk rock heroes, The Jacks.

“Stohn” took a different geographical path, leading him back South to Saint Augustine, Florida. There he met The Roebucks!! lead guitarist, J.J. Murphy, and joined his band Tether’s End who was working with Stan Lynch of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. But it was the end of the rope for the band and their Florida days, as Stohn and Murphy then moved to New York City. Stohn quickly joined the lower eastside band Mirrortest who went on to befriend and open for Jesse Malin, while also traveling to play with New Orleans based power pop band The Junior League. Meanwhile, Murphy was busy playing with too many line-ups to name and jumped back and forth from NYC to Nashville and also toured overseas. Fast forward to 2009, when Scavuzzo moved back to the Jersey Shore from San Francisco, and within months The Roebucks!! were formed.

So, it’s not a stretch to say that The Roebucks!! story has turned to a new chapter in the five songs that comprise the Buy American EP. Teaming up in a Harlem recording studio with Producer Kirk Ferraioli whose credits include working with Ray Charles, Smokey Robinson, Keith Richards and Gene Simmons, The Roebucks!! had the right professional guidance for their debut, which will be digitally distributed by Island/Def Jam Digital Distribution.

The lead track on the Buy American EP, “Love” is a mid tempo rocker that wails in the vein of Crazy Horse, with the wanton cries of love from a man who’s seen many slip away. “Girls” is a Sixties style pop nugget supreme, with echoes of Spector’s wall of sound and Brian Wilson’s sun drenched lyrics.

As in life, it’s not all fast cars, girls and love, there is seriousness lying underneath the surface. “Chemical Balance” is such a tune, something that all can relate to. Murphy’s searing guitar work and the level of heaviness espoused in the lyrics, make the song accessible and truthful.

“Soldier” is not for those on the battlefield but those who suit up everyday fighting for love and happiness and not necessarily winning every battle. While “Out The Side” is a simple ode to being spontaneous with jingly McGuinn type twelve string guitar sounds.

The Buy American EP is just the beginning for The Roebucks!! Fate and time has brought them back together and for a good reason: to make good, old fashioned rock n’ roll that hits the soul leaving you wanting more, and there is more to come.

-Tim Donnelly

BUY AMERICAN EP     Island Def Jam     THE ROEBUCKS