Cereal Banter. Credit: Courtesy of Cereal Banter
The locally based experimental rock band Cereal Banter has just released its new single, “Crypsis Crisis.” The band recorded the tune in late 2021 with very little performance preparation. Most of the riffs were written on an acoustic guitar on a rocking chair. All of the drum and bass takes were recorded on the first try.

“What you hear from that aspect is [band members] Joseph and Nick working it out on the fly — their forte,” reads a press release about the tune. “Using the studio as an instrument, the production art and craft for each track materialized without much deliberation. The sound and vision for this batch of music is deeply inspired by Bowie’s Low  record due to its liberating synthesizer use and intrepid mixing, the meandering ‘motorik’ beats of Neu! and the infinite-knot-like musicianship of the 1981-1984 King Crimson records.”

The band says it likes to make its compositions sound they’re coming from “a glam-dance club in 1981.”

The full LP will be available in the fall. Cereal Banter performs with Holy Fuck and Mark McGuire (of Emeralds fame) on Saturday at the Grog Shop.

This article appears in Jul 13-26, 2022.

Jeff has been covering the Cleveland music scene for more than 25 years now. On a regular basis, he tries to talk to whatever big acts are coming through town. And if you're in a local band that he needs to hear, email him at jniesel@clevescene.com.