Audio Recording Club

Some men are born to greatness; others face a cruel, relentless flavor of temptation. They suffer for hours, perhaps even weeks, as fate dangles success and fulfillment in front of them like a twenty-dollar prostitute who, upon removing her panties, unveils an artificial penis. What does a sane man do in these situations? How would Jesse Helms respond? As Friedrich Nietzsche wrote?and he would know, really?when you look into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you.

Some may question whether the penis is the abyss or whether the blood-curdling scream it elicits from yet another dissatisfied customer is, itself, abysmal. Others, still, may wonder about Audio Recording Club.

Catasauqua native singer/guitarist John Galm founded Audio Recording Club along with the very tall Dave Fell in 2002. The two originally united to protect the world against the threat of vampires, but hours of searching convinced them that vampires are not, in fact, real. Their purpose revised, Fell and Galm plucked drummer Travis Be and bassist Derrick Hess for a rhythm section and soon began crafting a sound by harnessing their Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania heritage and adding an element of rage and angst that terrified the average god-fearing American. Hess, too, knew the fear, and Alex Metz soon replaced him on the lowest four strings. Through a series of high-energy shows rife with acrobatics, dramatics, and broken instruments, the band built a regional following. After recording a first extended-play effort in early 2004, Audio Recording Club established itself firmly as the next fine installment of Pennsylvanian rock.

The band entered a pubescent phase, during which it shed its boyish good looks in favor of a new, musky refinement. Be and Metz found themselves replaced by drummer and bass player Kevin Burke and Kevin Kish. Almost immediately, Tinted Amber Records awarded the band with a contract to record and release a full length album. Work on the record began in the closing days of 2004. Burke's sordid addiction to Indian incense derailed the project for a time, but after a year had expired, the band proudly presented In the End We Are All Light.

The grueling recording process took its toll, however. Guitars stolen, tracks re-recorded, mixes unmixed, masters unmastered, and singers far from sober colored the early months of 2005 with great apprehension. The recording had distracted the band from its performance schedule, and some questioned whether or not enough buffalo seasoning remained in the continental United States to keep the four ARC'ers fed. Sadness set in. Galm found the companionship of an angry cat. Fell enlisted in the Navy only to find he had to wear a funny hat. Alas, adulthood gripped Audio Recording Club with its unrelenting talons. Decisions were made; MySpace photographs taken. Ultimately, the band decided to see other bands and go their separate ways in the summer of 2006.

The legacy of Audio Recording Club, the twelve glorious tracks of In the End We Are All Light, does not disappoint. Many clamor for more from the band. Like the pied piper, these four strapping lads led rooms of hundreds of kids, following mindlessly and often at gunpoint, through sing-a-long after sing-a-long. Though their life together came to an early demise, their record is a must for any serious fan of punk or rock music. No, really. Buy it or you're fucking dead.

Members of Audio Recording Club have gone on to perform in Day Room, Decathlete, Street Smart Cyclist, Homes, June State Residential, and Trees.