Ladies Night in Rochester

Don't ask Danielle LeBeau if she'll play Business Men. Lauren Ciarpelli will not be found crooning from a standstill any longer. These ladies are half of one of the latest indie/hardcore incarnations to take Buffalo and Rochester, Lapse. And, if they look and sound familiar, it's because only months ago they were half of Lights of Autumn, a Rochester pop-rock favorite.

But those poppy tunes are behind them as they embark with fellow musicians, Joey Raab, Garrett Tuchrello and newly added guitarist, Will Whaley, into a newer, harder, more experimental sound that they won't commit to one genre. As Ciarpelli says "We're melodic with a hardcore sound, but we're not 'melodic hardcore.'"

Confusing, right? Well, don't let the lack of definition throw you, Lapse has a specific sound and they're not afraid to shout it all the way to the back of the club. With the ladies citing their influences as a range of metal, punk, and hardcore, and Ciarpelli and Raab driving the creative force, expect great things from them.

I had the luck of finally seeing Lapse live at Holiday Havoc in December after a few misses at other live shows. With the other bands sticking to textbook metal breakdowns and unintelligible lyrics, Lapse stepped up and wailed us with a wall of music. Real music. Don't get me wrong, Ciarpelli is up front shredding her vocal cords like we've never heard before, but it mixes with the instruments in a way that totally rocks. They don't rely on tried and true metal or hardcore structure to build their tracks, and the result is uniquely them.

But, die hard LOA fans will probably be let down by this departure, though awesome. Lapse anticipates this and for the mean time are releasing their tracks digitally and in limited hardcopy quantities. LeBeau says it's also because people are hesitant to spend their cash on different genres than what they're used to. This is not the first time I've heard this from a local band. With independent financial backing and new musical offerings, who can blame them for testing the waters with an EP.

Overall, their sound is refreshingly hard, which I hope draws fewer Paramore comparisons on their behalf. The end of one chapter, and the beginning of the next, as LeBeau said "Why stick with the same thing?" Indeed. Be sure to check out Lapse this Sunday at Buffalo's Sugar City along with Iron Rain, Better Times, and Worthless.