In a world of disposable music in which many bands study fashion more than the songs they play, Denney Joints from the Midnite Snack has one thing to say to you: “Blow my head off with your guitar. Give me something moving, that’s how beauty should sound.” And the 26-year-old knows a little something about music. Besides being the lead singer-songwriter and guitar player for the Snack, he eats, breathes and studies music at Cabrillo College. It was there, in 2008, where he met drummer Trevor Hope (of the Vox Jaguars) and the two formed Midnite Snack, adding bassist Sam Copperman a year later and recording their first EP, Soup Samwich. “I wrote most of the stuff we play like four years ago, but I’ve been sitting on it because I didn’t have a band and I hated the way my voice sounded,” Joints explains with a smirk. Striving to improve his vocals, he joined the Cabrillo Symphonic Choir where he met the Snack’s synth player, Shaina Elster. Since then, the four have been on an all-out binge, gobbling up as many shows as possible with their unique blend of neo-classical post-punk. Perhaps Joints describes it best, “Basically I want it to sound like you’re standing in the middle of a star exploding.” Midnite Snack begins with a layer of distortion combined with a contrasting mixture of sound and silence. The music is driven by pounding rhythms that are topped off with syrupy vocals that linger with a hint of longing and sadness, giving the listener an ethereal experience. The band’s currently in the process of recording a second album, Bedtime. Joints says it will be filled with “years of tension and nervousness all balled into one thing.” Get your Midnite Snack fill starting Friday, Aug. 27, when the quartet will be featured guests on KZSC’s “The Rising Tide” radio show at 8:30 p.m. on 88.1FM, and at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 1, onstage at the Blue Lagoon. | Mat weir
INFO: 9 p.m. Wed., Sept. 1. Blue Lagoon, 923 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $5. 423-7117. myspace.com/djoints.
