john blenn
Mhz: The Frequency Is Loud And Clear Performed At: Mr. Beery’s
For 18 years, Mr. Beery’s has been a stronghold for original rock and the Long Island underdog. Proprietor Steve Beery, one of the true legends of the local music scene still tends bar at a lot of shows because it’s in his blood to be there, 22 years after the doors opened and almost as many since he made the commitment to area music. On the last Saturday of 2014, it was business as usual…four bands, a house full of rockers and a reminder that rock and roll will never die, no matter what the flavor-of-the-month club tries to sell you. Mhz (pronounce that “Megahurtz”) is no gang of Johnny-come-latelys. There’s no matching suits or Beatles haircuts, no deluxe smoke and lasers gimmicks, no trendy causes and no special messages being pedaled here. It’s five Long Island guys playing for the love of the sport, mixing a few covers they love with the original music that hammer out around all the other responsibilities of life. This isn’t some music mogul lab experiment or pre-packaged marketing brainstorm, no, Mhz couldn’t be farther away from any of that if they tried. They just rear back and let it fly and judging by the yelps of approval and applause, they share a taste for rock that the room seemed to share. Fronted by vocalist Rob Cardone, the latest addition to the group back in April 2014, the hard-hitting quintet of Mhz is led by lead guitarist Brent Hertz and guitarist/ vocalist Vinny Greco. Their powerhouse rhythm section is comprised of the complex stylings of drummer Ralph Pesco and the intricate runs of bassist Chris Yee. The latter pair form a highly-effective pocket, but they’re also quite active driving the songs with creative runs and dynamic flourishes throughout the set. Drawing on influences ranging from Seattle Grunge to Woodstock royalty, Mhz plowed through a fairly heavy 12 song set, long on crunching rhythms and peppered with some fine riffing by Hertz. Cardone handled all but one of the lead vocals (Greco stepped up for the original “Running In The Rain” while also adding acoustic guitar seasoning to the mix), adeptly showing off a fine mix of biting angst and ominously
50 • village connection • january 2015
dark singing. Tracks such as “Trouble Child,” “Blakk Rayne” and “Shades” are not aiming for pop immortality but they are highly –effective, brooding adventures in punch and counterpunch. Tossing in covers as diverse as Lou Reed’s classic “Swet Jane” and Alice In Chain’s “Rooster,” Mhz had an uncanny sense of justright changes of pace for the night. Also of note was a band original dedicated to the troops that defend our country, “This Is Home,” which was tucked in between those two covers. By the time they brought the set to an exclamation point with a medley of “The Protest Song” and Ten Year After’s “I Want To Change The World,” Mhz had steamed through an impressive night of two-fisted rock full of shadows and ominous overtones. That doesn’t mean that it’s all bleak, hardly, as they open up a lot of what they do into the type of jams that are all too rare in these days of jangly pop, short songs and minimal-to-no solo breaks. These guys like to play and they play quite well off of each other. Mhz are the type of unsung heroes that hacve always made Long island a fertile ground for great rock and the deliver an hour of no frills hard rock that keeps pumping from start of set to finish. Mhz isn’t trying to look like your typical rocks stars (okay, their lead singer does have a passing resemblance to Colin Farrell) or sell any particular message with their music, but the message is clear at the end of the day: playing for the love of the sport is still okay. Dark but not depressing, heavy but still melodic, playing some classics, but still staying original, Mhz does it with a passion. It’s a frequency you may want to tap into in the near future. John Blenn is a SAG actor/screenwriter/playwright who has been an active entertainment journalist for 35 years. He is the former publisher of Long Island Entertainment and has written for Newsday, Island Ear and Network among dozens of magazine credits. He is also a Professor of Music Business and English at Five Towns College.