The Montclarion

Issue date: 3/25/04 Section: Opinion

Every other Thursday night MSU's own A.S.S.I.S.T. organization opens the doors to the Rathskeller in the late evening hour for a night of poetry, music, monologues, and of course, the main attraction, which is coffee! Through the organizations' generous hands it has raised money for a wide variety of charities, and causes.Last week the biweekly coffee house kicked off the night with a performance by a new local band that goes by the name of Tape Recording Morrie. This band, although new, is not a stranger to the A.S.S.I.S.T. Coffee House. This was their second time to play a full set to the MSU crowd. The music that this band makes definitely creates a very chill atmosphere for its listeners. The key to this is the eclectic nature of it all. Tape Recording Morrie, which has (you counted it) four singers, also includes jam band style guitars, fused with punk style drums, keyboard, funky bass, and cello.
Besides the actual nature of the music, each song in their set shows a completely different side of the band than the last.
This band could start off a show with an acoustic number, fall into some funky song with three part harmonies, and finish off with a catchy sing along number, and it would not surprise me. Instead of being a weakness, the variety of the band is one of their greatest strengths.
The former sax player started Tape Recording Morrie in hopes to create something that was not only fun, but reflected real life experiences and emotion. With a great amount of love for the acoustic guitar the 21-year-old, who displays a tattoo of his idol John Lennon on his forearm, brought his ideas for a the band together with his musician friends. This is when Mike Aiello (guitar/vocals), and Tom Francavilla (bass/vocals) joined up with Aiello.
From there, the line up grew to include Craig Smith (keyboards/vocals) to add some chords over the guitars and Joey O'Rourke (drums) to add a beat to the band. When one would think the band was complete, Mikey's friend Los, who had moved to Hawaii, came back to the East Coast with the new skill of playing cello.
Tape Recording Morrie, at this point, found their balance as a band. After Thursday's performance, the guys plan to head into the studio to record their five-song EP that will be available through the independent Yellow Cab record label.
The A.S.S.I.S.T. coffee house has definitely been a haven for talented performers in the past and it is no exception today.
So, try and keep a look out for their new EP and why not have some coffee while you're at it.

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