Rock 'n' Rumble: Black Tie Dynasty vs. Black Tie Vendetta

Sorry for the lapse in rumbles. Things are finally settling down enough to concentrate on the next round.

Clearly, Lovie was the favorite in the last match-up against The Valentines…er…The Fieros. Not sure if it was name confusion or growing buzz about Lovie, but people commented big time on where their hearts belonged.

I imagine this round will be a bit easy. We’re pitting a local favorite against a newer band, but you’ll see why it was inevitable. In round three, we go black.

The Breakdown

What more can we say about Black Tie Dynasty that we haven’t already? In fact, it might be easier just to refer to some of our previous blog posts and articles about the guys. Plus, they swept up at last year’s DOMA with four awards including Best Act in Town. But if you’ve been living under a local music rock, then Black Tie Dynasty goes a little something like this: Indie synth pop rock that evokes The Church, Ultravox, The Killers and even some Prince -- thanks to a charismatic frontman -- but sounds as modern as it does retro.

Hear the Band: The band's ability to use MySpace to its fullest marketing potential is amazing. Next Gig: The Dynasty guys are touring with labelmates The Crash that Took Me, but will be back in these parts at The Loft February 2 with Red Monroe, The Demigs and The Orange.

Black Tie Vendetta is making its way through the local hard rock scene with its 2007 release Length of an Ocean and a number of appearances toward the end of last year. I was a little worried that the band was going to be another cutout screamo death metal band, but the group has some decent writing chops and some sweet heavy guitar action. In fact, the members could be the hard rock equivalent to Black Tie Dynasty, being that their stuff is fairly radio friendly (sorry, guys, if that’s the kiss of death) and similar to some of the heavier stuff found in many a top 10. They describe themselves as “one of the fastest growing rock bands within the Texas music scene” citing punk and metal as influences.

Hear the Band: Black Tie Vendetta has some good stuff on its MySpace page. Next Gig: Tough choice since both bands are showing out the same day. Head over to Firewater February 2 where Black Tie Vendetta will perform with other heavy staples Loaded Moses, Moving Atlas, Chalklign and Beautiful Disaster. -- Rich Lopez