Sometimes, as a critic, you are struck by the hand of something mightier than the normal artist. Sometimes a vocalist grabs you by the throat and demands your utmost attention, the fullness of your musical mind and more than the traditional two thumbs up.
We're probably talking like eight to 13 thumbs up here.
That artist is Nicholas Mendola, and that band is clearmotive.
Combining absolutely mind-blowing riffage with the crooning of Otis Redding, James Brown, Led Zeppelin, and that guy from Shai Hulud, clearmotive has taken the music scene by a molasses storm in the last five years, moving from a band that no one in Western New York cared about to a band that no one in Western New York cared about that has toured to 37 states.
"I guess we're just like The Beatles in that we have really re-invented the musical wheel," said project mastermind Nicholas Mendola. "People have compared us to everything from Dream Theater to The Temptations. I just compare us to truth, justice and the American way."
Truly, the most humble of men speaks from his heart.
"Honestly, when we started, I thought to myself, 'Is it okay for a local band to be better than any other band ever, all-time?,' " Mendola queried. "But the answer was right in front of me. Of course, it is. Even Miles Davis started out in East St. Louis, Mo.
"East St. Louis, Tonawanda, what's the difference?" he added.
Mendola was quick to spread the love to other bands that have demanded his attention in the last few years.
"Well, there's this band from Cheektowaga called Casting Lots For Judah that I am very much into," said Mendola, adding that the main reason he likes that band is that he is the singer. "The other band I'm really into is this hardcore band that formed right over at your University at Buffalo. I think their name is Tranquil the Melee, and their singer is some Mikhael Flatt character."
At this point in any feature so shining, so glowing, dare-I-say glorious, it is imperative that a second or third authority be reached for reinforcement.
"Oh crap, these guys are good," said Eric Clapton, guitarist for the band, Cream. "I've never heard anything like it. I thought the Delta Blues was good, but clearmotive makes Robert Johnson sound like Delta Sonic."
Clapton immediately telephoned a friend for his opinion.
"It reminds me of a cross between genius and unparalleled brilliance," said Albert Einstein. "I just called Alfred Nobel to see if I could donate my Nobel Peace Prize to clearmotive, because they very well may bestow peace upon the whole world through the power of rock."
Random citizens on the street agreed.
"Their guitar players are amazing. I just forgot who Paul McCartney was," said Chase Middaugh of Hamburg, who happens to play guitar in clearmotive.
"Yeah, and with all the dreck out there, it's good to see that some bands are still doing things that no one has thought of," said Mendola's best friend and guitar player, Nick Tardif.
To be fair, there are detractors.
"Why are we calling them the best band ever?" asked clearmotive bassist Nathan Laughlin. "Best assets to the human race ever? Maybe. But have you guys ever heard Screeching Weasel?"
Rob Ruffino could not be reached for comment.
Still, the final words should belong to Mendola, an innovator in the truest sense of the word.
"Trick Daddy once said, 'Take it to the house,' " he said. "I just know we take it to the house every time out there.
"Ain't nobody humpin' around."
Truer words have never been spoken.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
