Viva Caramel's last minute fill-in for Turks is a success

For a rock band that cites Led Zeppelin as a major influence, Viva Caramel had their work cut out for them. On top of that, they were also a last-minute replacement for the New Bomb Turks, who had to bow out at the last minute at Monday's performance at the 'Sco.

The evening started raucously with an overly loud set by opening band Scenes From the Next. Those that stayed through the whole set of Scenes found enough energy on stage in Viva Caramel's performance to keep watching.

Hailing from Cleveland, rockers Viva Caramel are composed of the

long-haired Brian Noga on guitar and vocal, Brian Strazek also on guitar

and vocal, Ed Sotebo on bass and vocal, and the cowboy hat wearing Eric Vogt on drums and vocal. Even though they have not recorded a full LP during their two-year existence, Viva Caramel has opened for such acts as the The Poster Children, The Dusters, and Dayton's Guided by Voices. They hope to release a full album soon.

Strazek and Noga jogged along from song to song while strumming

their six strings with furious speed and trading excited glances with each other. Their distorted strumming paused only when the drums and vocals would build to powerful crescendos. One of these crescendos was marked by a noteworthy water spitting display by Noga.

Every member of Viva Caramel had at least one song in which he participated as the lead vocalist. This provided for a much more interesting performance, since most bands feature only one lead singer. Though none of the members had an outstanding voice, each seemed to enjoy every moment he had in the spotlight by furiously belting strained verses at the head-bobbing students in the audience.

The songs themselves tended to concentrate much more on structure. As evidenced by their performance, songwriting is definitely Viva Caramel's strong point; they never let themselves dwell too much on their mediocre vocals. Instead, they choose to write catchy, intricate, power-charged pop songs.

None of the members of Viva Caramel were terribly graceful, but this is not always a bad thing. Their songs and attitude didn't carry the pomp of bands like U2 or Oasis. Instead of posing, guitarist Brian Noga chose instead to wear thick glasses that slid down his sweaty nose and onto the floor Noga assumed an onstage persona of a disgruntled and nerdy high school art student, with a voice that reminded one of a character on the Upright Citizens Brigade. Even though his voice was the weakest and most grating of the band, his demeanor seemed to really appeal to the small crowd.

The four members of Viva Caramel had some pretty big shoes to fill when they got onstage at 11:00 on Monday night to replace the hard-hitting punk ferocity of the New Bomb Turks. They showed, though, that their guitar rock style still had as much punch as any punk show.