A cozy club called Aura was host to ACIDIC’s CD-release party on Tuesday, April 14th. Right around the two-year anniversary of guitarist Michael Gossard’s first rehearsals and performances with the initial lineup of the young Westside band, a delicious 12-song platter of ACIDIC’s music has been prepared and presented for the gratification of the band’s ever-growing fanbase.
Over the hill from their homes, on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City, the members of ACIDIC met with friends and fans in a “party room” at the rear of the club, treating supporters to new CDs, entitled “Ironic Dreams” (also the name of Track Number 6 on the disk), custom ACIDIC guitar picks, and colorfully-decorated cookies, courtesy of Stacy Crumplar, that were emblazoned with both the band's logo and the names of the young musicians: Michael Gossard, Ted Dubrawski, Matt Whitaker, and Andrew Sabatine.
The Aura's interior is comfortable and close, and it houses a stage that's fully suitable for all kinds of rock acts, which no doubt make good reasons that the maven of the Music Highway, Sheena Metal, was involved in the promotion of this event. (Sheena is one of the many folks acknowledged in the beefy “thank-you” credits on the new CD.) Interestingly, when ACIDIC got up on that stage to perform, they opened up with a song that's not actually on the new CD, a lively number called “Liar” -- the vocals were solid and the mix was good, and was plain that ACIDIC had yet another winning song in their arsenal. Then came a solid rendition of Michael’s cornerstone piece called “Black Box” 
(gotta love the way Michael tells about that special gal, when he lets you know that “she’s a wrecking machine), and those writhing riffs were followed by the good punk-pop energy of the title track to the “Ironic Dreams” CD. “Strata Red” featured the expected surfer-style rolling intro, accompanied by a bit of creative feedback, and then Mike and company moved on to “Move On,” a composition that starts with a ballad-like beginning, and then builds in choppy fashion to a crowd-pleasing crescendo. Michael then announced what would be a “slightly faster slow song,” a tune that’s not found on the CD called “Let Me Take You Away,” which featured the vintage British-invasion flavor so frequently favored by ACIDIC. Finally, in a typically unpredictable move, the band broke into a song that not only isn’t yet recorded , but doesn’t even have a name – with Andrew blasting off at the outset, first with rhythmic chords and then with a capsule lead, to be joined by Michael, Ted, and Matt for a punchy parting shot, before clearing the stage to make way for the veteran rockers of Joe Steel.
Now, just as ACIDIC has been navigating the music scene of L.A. for about two years, so Joe Steel has been plying the tides of the national and worldwide rock markets for at least two decades or more. Fronted by a colorful bassist-singer named Doc Phillips, the band also includes fellow New Yorker Spyder Williams on guitar, and the “Frying Dutchman,” Mike Zwaaf, on drums. Like ACIDIC, Joe Steel also has also been working on a new CD, which will be coming out soon with the name “Rock Hard Or Die.” In addition to the title track from that forthcoming 
effort, Joe Steel played their salacious favorite, “Let’s Get Naked Noon,” and in keeping with that saucy theme, next up was a song announced as a kind of “homage to the working girls,” called “Red Light 1-2-3.” All three players were at top form, as they headed into a delicious name-dropping ode to Eighties bands called “California’s Burning,” a song that could have been composed only by somebody who was active in those spandex-clad glory days, and who paid enough attention and retained enough memory to jot down some of the glammy details. Joe Steel then closed with an anthemic piece that let the Aura know where they stood, aptly entitled “Stand Up For The Rock.” Thanking the venue and the crowd and Sheena, Doc once again let it be known that Joe Steel is back, with a renewed attitude and fresh music that aims to make its mark on today’s market, side by side with rising young talent such as ACIDIC.
