AARON KERR's DISSONANT CREATURES
May 4, 2025 ELK's Club #34
A REVIEW
By Alex Ness
June 16, 2025
Aaron Kerr & Dissonant Creatures play live from their new album.
The band Swallows are a highly talented group of musicians, accompanying Jeff Crandall lead vocal, as well as creating songs, in both lyrics and musical composition. The band is lovely, powerful and it is an organism all its own. Vast areas of fusion, genres, and dedication to their craft they are an invader into our calm, passive world.
Over time the group expanded their footprint in music by creating individual splinter groups. The character of each group is an expression of the Swallows member, as lead creative force. Last week I covered Jeff Crandall's J.Briozo imprint, and Brett Hansen's band Side Effects. Both are very different in result but J.Briozo's studio presence reveals members from Swallows in various roles. Side Effects is a three instrument punk band, so I've no idea how they'd incorporate members of the collective.
Similar to Swallows, Dissonant Creatures is a band of many genres, and all have aspects of something greater, perhaps even unexpected. They create new music, in doing so capture bountiful moments of awe in the listener. They work in the genres of rock, jazz, classical, opera and more. Aaron Kerr is an enormously talented composer, cellist, and more. His work is as much an individual statement of style and character, while using many instruments and genres. Band's members include those from other bands, especially that of including Swallows, as well as J. Briozo and Side Effects. Watching him direct the orchestra is fun, but when he plays as one of the collective, the project gains deeper veins of power, unique cello sounds and a direction that is joyful, building upon hope and beauty. There is in this music a tribal verve, a thunder in bass and drums, and despite a lack of lyrics, one perceives the impact and power.
There was not a single moment that the music didn't enthrall my mind, and it led to a feeling of hope and beauty, but also, a sense of a great moment composed by a creator. How was I so fortunate to be in that moment, at that time, hearing that music? I daresay, being grateful was the highest feeling that I came away from with. It isn't to lessen any other feeling or thought, but it felt like unique sounds, a unique talent collective, and a moment of exceptional gravity.
Jazz is often thought to be smooth jazz, oriented towards groovy vibes and relaxation. Or it is thought entirely experimental, but it is not that in this case. Dissonant Creatures might well like being thought of in false genres, they tend to both exalt in rebellion, and come together in pure brilliance. This power jazz but I have no idea if that is used term. But I will say, it is the tough guy on the block, it is going to eat your lunch, and take your lunch money. If you could fall asleep to this, you have sleep deprivation and issues. I speak from having sleep deprivation, and I promise, it is not possible to sleep with this on. It is Rock, hard or otherwise, mostly yes. But if it was released to radio and had no editorial description prior to beginning, most people would call it Rock, even as they'd be wrong in that there also. This is a group of talented creative minds and bodies who create here a powerful moment of expression. I discuss the genre, in fact, because as I am writing this because I've tried to slap a label on it, and cannot.
Two songs were amazing, equally to the rest, but stood out for me. They were Unstoppable, and Bag of Metal. Unstoppable was a moment of deep drum and bass going before the rest joined in, and it had an unique way of telling of the approach of an experience. The song itself featured each player, but more so, it demonstrated the way of composition, as Kerr no doubt used this song to send a message, of the message it said, follow and listen. Mike Norby is a very talented creator of music, in percussion and mandolin. But the song Bag of Metal featured him striking metal, with metal, and that aesthetic led to a song that was dramatic, epic, and beautiful. As the last point of this discussion suggests, it led me to creating the story of it, in poetic form. I am uncertain if I have ever been so moved in a concert. But ... I have now been so moved.
Playlist for the show
Unstoppable (not found on the album)
Bag of Metal
Zen and Alchemy
Scorpio Rising
Head Down, Slowly Onward
Born Bad
This is Going to Hurt a Little
Sick Fusion
Giants in the Earth
Floor of the Sky
Find More at DISSONANT CREATURES
This is the poem that arose in my heart and mind during and after Bag of Metal was performed.
STEEL STRIKING STEEL
In a land of vast potential, a true people rose
Bearing the blood of explorers, and warriors
Striving to provide a land that was their own
This great nation of miners and steelworkers
Would be crushed for expressing a solidarity
Though great in numbers, endings were cruel
And in the echo of time, you will hear sounds
Of steel being bent to the needs of the people
Of coal being harvested, as well as the wheat
With a booming sound of steel striking stones
Of the scythe sweeping grain to feed the land
They'd rise as one, together, hearing the call
But a high ideal is often too far away to reach
The Czar's secret police made Siberia a cage
As did the Commissars and KGB in the time
The inevitable rise of this people occurred
Despite the sound of steel on steel, a cruelty
Shaking the people again, and a lead to war
The land had purpose, one that steel defines
It will call to the future, in ways to progress
It will always include the true sound of steel
Striking steel, scythe cutting grains, in hope
Alex Ness ©2025
Zen and Alchemy
Scorpio Rising
Head Down, Slowly Onward
Born Bad
This is Going to Hurt a Little
Sick Fusion
Giants in the Earth
Floor of the Sky
Aaron Kerr's Dissonant Creatures' lineup includes Brett Hansen (guitar),
Jonathan Townsend (drums), Chris Andresen (bass), Mike Nordby (mandolin
and percussion), Jeff Crandall (guitar and piano), and Sean Egan
(clarinet and piano.)
Find More at DISSONANT CREATURES
This is the poem that arose in my heart and mind during and after Bag of Metal was performed.
STEEL STRIKING STEEL
In a land of vast potential, a true people rose
Bearing the blood of explorers, and warriors
Striving to provide a land that was their own
This great nation of miners and steelworkers
Would be crushed for expressing a solidarity
Though great in numbers, endings were cruel
And in the echo of time, you will hear sounds
Of steel being bent to the needs of the people
Of coal being harvested, as well as the wheat
With a booming sound of steel striking stones
Of the scythe sweeping grain to feed the land
They'd rise as one, together, hearing the call
But a high ideal is often too far away to reach
The Czar's secret police made Siberia a cage
As did the Commissars and KGB in the time
The inevitable rise of this people occurred
Despite the sound of steel on steel, a cruelty
Shaking the people again, and a lead to war
The land had purpose, one that steel defines
It will call to the future, in ways to progress
It will always include the true sound of steel
Striking steel, scythe cutting grains, in hope
Alex Ness ©2025
For all your printing needs, Matt at Speed Print Inc. is amazing.
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