By ANAHEIM — A few seconds into the Monday night show at Chain Reaction, and guitars were already wailing in the style of timeless rock ‘n’ roll legends.
The guys of Tangent, a classic rock-influenced quartet, have enough auditory tricks up their sleeves to set them apart from every other local act around town.
During the concert on Monday night in particular, the use of a delay pedal on the guitar elongated chords before looping them back over again. This meant that guitarist Chris Elce could continue to play new chords on top of the previously looped material. The resulting sound was memorable.
“I like to make each pedal count for as much as I can,” he said. “I try to think of what else I can get [the music] to sound like by using only my hands.”
Elce is a senior business economics major at Cal State Long Beach, with a minor in music composition. The combination of the two fields of study explains why he is not only the guitarist for Tangent, but also the manager.
When he shared a Parkside dorm with bassist Alex Berru, CSULB junior music education major, a few years ago, the two decided on a whim that they should start a rock band. Now, Tangent has a self-produced, self-titled EP complete and set for release on iTunes next month.
In just a half-hour set, the band managed to wade through saga-like songs with riffs that easily emphasized their polished instrumentation.
Lead singer, Chris Allen, introduced “Witching Spell,” which has gained airplay on online indie radio stations. The song opened with a slow cascading guitar before blaring through the motions with no difficulty. Such an approach to the music became commonplace for the night.
The quartet’s Chain Reaction set was heavy on raw, aching vocals and numbers reminiscent of ’90s alternative band Soundgarden with a hint of Led Zeppelin.
During the rambunctious tune “What’s Mine (Ain’t Mine)” that closed their set, Elce let out a resounding scream that filled every corner of the intimate venue. The shriek turned heads and caused daydreaming attendees to give their full attention to the stage.
Unlike any ordinary shout, Elce explained that he discovered that screaming into his guitar would create a pickup caused by the vibration of the strings and the energy of the sound frequency. Thus, the final reverb sound was born.
Tangent is currently performing at local venues around the county. They are scheduled to perform at noon at the University Student Union on March 24. Hear their experimental sounds at www.myspace.com/tangentsound.
