by John Bear
Daily Lobo
Members of the band Gratitude made up a word for the type of music they play.
They hail from San Francisco and call their style of music "Bobcore," after bass player Bob Lindsey.
They pointed out his choice of clothing for the day: A white polo shirt in the preppie tradition that contrasted sharply with his heavily tattooed arms and checkered Vans.
This, they said, is the essence of Bobcore music that does not fit into any one genre.
The band played at Johnson Field on Saturday as part of this year's Fiestas, an event sponsored by ASUNM.
Band members compared their lack of a definable sound to bands such as Led Zeppelin, Jane's Addiction, Pearl Jam, Rush and The Clash.
"All these bands weren't really accepted into any one (genre) like punk or rock or hardcore or this or that or that," singer Jonah Matranga said. "But people kind of came together around them, and those are our favorite bands."
He said in contemporary terms, the band sounds like U2 meets Green Day or The Foo Fighters.
He said they all come from a punk ethos, but sonically they are much different.
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"Put a pop band on a metal band's equipment," guitarist Jeremy Tappero said.
The band's self-titled debut is out on Atlantic Records. Gratitude shot a video for the first single, "Drive Away" and is considering making videos for every song on the album.
Matranga said he settled on the name Gratitude because he hates thinking of band names.
"The minute a reasonable one came into my I head, I just thought, 'Oh well, I'll just take that one,'" he said. "The more time you take, I just think every name just starts to sound like the worst name in the world."
The band moved on to Austin as part of its tour, but Matranga, who has played in Albuquerque with other bands, said he likes New Mexico.
"It's got this otherworldly feel," he said. "It feels slow here. In some places, when it feels slow, you just feel like people are stupid, but here it feels like people are really wise."
