The Breaker by Cober

The surprise is how painstakingly lovely and graceful all of the blood letting sounds, from the sinewy, L7-ish riff-rocker "Red Granite" to the spangled Mazzy-Star-with-fangs swirl of the title track to the poisonous thundercloud "Wedding Song (Abacus)," which swells and builds with whisper-to-scream ferocity. The cumulative effect of this last one evokes Live Through This-era Courtney Love wailing against the foreboding backdrop of a Come dirge.

Despite the seeming stylistic shifts, Cober singer/multi-instrumentalist Sheila Bommakanti and guitarist Lelani LaGuardia maintain a sharp focus and keep a tight rein on the mood swings, and they purge their demons with wrathful precision. Best of all, they keep suffusing the atmosphere in a luscious dread as guitars probe the darkened corridors of the material with lean menace, stinging Bommakanti's wounded words like scorpions. BY JONATHAN PERRY

THE CLEVELAND SCENE (originally published: September 3, 2003)Cober with the Malarkies and Lovekill. Tuesday, September 9, at the Lime Spider. BY MELODY CARABALLO

Though Cober has supported accomplished goth outfits such as Gene Loves Jezebel and Faith & Disease, the band is more noticeably influenced by alternative music of the early '90s. The ferocity of Babes in Toyland's Kat Bjelland and the lyrical soul-wrenching of Juliana Hatfield echo in the whispers and wails of frontwoman Sheila Bommakanti. She's a gothic renaissance woman, a multi-instrumentalist who produced and wrote all the music on Cober's two albums. But it's her voice, impassioned by her fight to confront her insecurities, that demands attention......

"Solid collection of rock songs that probably kick ass live, and are fairly arresting as is." --DAGGER on Cober's The Breaker

"I listen first, read the press release second, and so when I say I hear Concrete Blonde, it's because I do. I don't know about the Cure, though, other than some real nice deep, dark, and moody moving bass lines. Cober is a Seattle-based trio, with Sheila Bommakanti pushing out some metal-touched beautiful vocals that make me think of L7 underwater, with some goth grunge enchantment moving between her voice and Lelani LaGuardia's swirling shimmering guitar. Everything is pushed into darker waters by Zach Barnhart's drumming. Heavy mellow heartache. The voice is what carries the songs, moving from a Medicine-meets-Garbage beauty, Mazzy Star delicate and Cowboy Junkie slow, and then building and screaming some harsh painting of hurt, catching you off guard and then so loud, so steady, so liquid." -- BIG TAKEOVER on Cober's The Breaker

Three Imaginary Girls (1/2003)

What can I say about Cober? "It's hard to get over a woman with that low of a vocal range," said April, our visiting imaginary girl friend.

You could definitely say that. Then I thought: perhaps that's part of the point; you're not supposed to get over this band easily, like a malingering broken heart for some twisted, unworthy soul from your past who you just can't shake. It thunders and booms and it remains. Is that good? Is it bad? Does it matter? It just is. It's Cober.

Frontman Sheila Bommakanti has a voice to intimidate. Dark and low, lower than you would think possible, and loud, dark, brooding, direct. It's powerful. It's nothing I would ordinarily choose to listen to at home... well, maybe unless I were in a really bad mood, or really wanted to intimidate my neighbors. But it's definitely interesting. Definitely unique. Ponderous. I was frightened, yet intrigued.

Sounds like? Think heavy metal with a bronzed-gothic edge. Concrete Blonde. The Damned. April suggested that her vocals sounded like 16 Horsepower.

I heard driving bass, pounding through my foamy earplug protection, with simple repetitive guitar chords floating through. They resonate like sullen heartache. It's like grunge's dark bastard step-daughter who sulks in her room. With her guitar. And, according to their web site, her mandolin and her harpsichord. Hmm, didn't hear any of that during my five or so song listening stint. Too bad...

{aside: it was at this point that it became crucial to get french fries. My first thought: Oh god, I am spending *way* too much time at Graceland if I am now taking to eating here. My second thought: my GOD these are great fries! Fresh rosemary, and thyme, and cumin? Who knew they took such culinary pride? But anyhoo...}

Interested in hearing more (about Cober, not french fries)...?

"Bommakanti is an artist to watch...The dark sound of Cober gets an energetic update on the band's second album, The Breaker." -Lisa Tsering, INDIA WEST (12/2002)

OREGON DAILY EMERALD 11/14/2002

Cober's music is all about angst. But this is no annoying whining; it's pure addictive agony draped in black velvet.

The Seattle band's sophomore album, "the breaker," more than parallels its first endeavor, "Crashpilot." Listening to "the breaker" is like eating expensive chocolate cake, except you'll be crying all over it. The ingredients are expertly interwoven -- Mazzy Star-esque vocals providing the icing to smooth, rich layers of guitars, drums and harpsichord.

One of the band's other stand-out features is that frontwoman Sheila V. Bommakanti does much of the behind-the-scenes work herself. The vocalist and multi-talented instrumentalist wrote all the words and music for both "Crashpilot" and "the breaker." For "the breaker," she also co-produced the album with Steve Carter and mixed and mastered the music with Carter and Paul Speer.

When Bommakanti produced "Crashpilot" with Speer, she was the entire band -- guitars, vocals, bass and mandolin -- with Steve Hill and Neal Speer contributing drum performances to some of the tracks. For "the breaker," she wisely added guitarist Lelani LaGuardia. Drummer Zach Barnhart also contributed to this album, and Hill returned to lend his expertise on the track "Red Granite."

Cober may be relatively obscure as of now, but the band's raw talent provides plenty of potential. It's refreshing to hear interesting instruments like the mandolin and harpsichord added to the mix, and it makes the music better knowing you're listening to a glistening secret few people have been lucky enough to discover.

If all this weren't enough, the album's deep, intriguing lyrics also make it the perfect break-up soundtrack. Songs from "the breaker" are guaranteed to satisfy even the strongest post-split craving for some indulgently dismal sounds -- and Cober is adept at pouring salt on the wounds. For example, the track "Hear Lies" laments, "I am made a fool of in conversations had / Thought I was talking to you, but I'm talking to myself / I may try and act out the parts that you defend / I am not good at this, but its fun to pretend." ---Jacquelyn Lewis, Pulse Editor,

The Stranger (7/11/2002)

At first glance, the diminutive Sheila V. Bommakanti seems like an unlikely frontwoman, but then she opens her mouth, and this incredible husky voice pours out, seemingly out of nowhere. Bommakanti's vocals are at the forefront of Cober's material, which lurks in a dark space somewhere between the Cure and early R.E.M. She whispers, breathes, belts, and howls, all of it perfectly timed and on-key. The best part, though, is that you can enjoy Cober's songs on multiple levels. Whether you're treating your ears to Bommakanti's melodic guitar work or appreciating the deeper meanings of her lyrics, you needn't give up one form of enjoyment in favor of the other. The music's moody but evocative, and it doesn't succumb to a sense of self-importance, which tends to plague this particular subgenre. After releasing Crashpilot in 2000, Bommakanti is currently recording a second record, Breaker, with new bandmate Lelani LaGuardia. --Genevieve Williams

Cober is :

Sheila Bommakanti - guitars + vocals

Thanks for checking Cober out at CD Baby! Visit the website at www.cober.org and drop me a line........

-Cober

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