>>PREVIEW
THWOMP
RAMP
Thursday, October 5
Broken City
It’s practically a given that videogame violence has created a generation of misanthropes, maladjusted twentysomethings with a tendency towards megalomania and an irrational fondness for kidnapping princesses. That’s just something we’ll have to live with.
But what of the other, more insidious influence of those games? It’s one thing to spend your formative years in mortal street fights with your friends. Kids can just shake that off. Spend three days straight stuck on the 40th level of The Adventures of Lolo, listening to the same 30-second loop of background music hour after hour, and there are consequences.
Just look at the boys in THWOMP, the Nintendo soundtrack side-project of local instrumental heroes Gunther. The band, plus one longtime friend, have somehow deluded themselves into thinking there’s musical merit in playing the soundtracks to F-Zero and Megaman 2.
"They’re pretty cheesy tunes," admits drummer Scott Moffat. "I’m not denying that in the least. They’re so triumphant. But that’s what’s appealing. People love them just because they’re such super-hero-sounding songs. And I think most people that come to the bars these days, they’ve played some Super Nintendo, and they remember these tunes."
THWOMP, named for the giant stone monsters who spend their days waiting to fall on Mario, aren’t the only ones with a fondness for Nintendo soundtracks. Acts like The Advantage and The Minibosses have been rising in popularity in recent years, and a quick search of YouTube shows a frightening array of musicians following suit. But is it the strength of the songs that draws them, or is it just the memories they’re attached to?
"There was a point in the initial stages, when we were getting this going, where I was like, man, what if these tunes aren’t as good as I thought they were when I was 10?" Moffat continues. "What if it’s all nostalgia, and the reason I like them is just because of that memory of them? But they’re good tunes. When you’ve got a 30-second loop, it’s got to be a damn good 30-seconds, because you’re going to have to listen to it over and over."
Even so, the members of THWOMP admit that the nostalgia plays a major role. When they bring their show to Broken City for the second installment of the RAMP series, it’ll be complete with a projector screen and a professional video gamer, going through the levels as the band plays the themes. The goal is to recreate those countless days spent with friends in basements, albeit with a bigger crowd and more alcohol.
"We considered doing it without the visuals, without having the projector," explains guitarist Colin Mitchell. "We think it would still hold up that way. But for that nostalgia reason, and helping people in the audience remember the games if they haven’t played them in a while, the video and the audio will really help bring back those memories. I want the people watching us to feel like they’re 12 years old." |
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