The Differents - ¡VIVA!

Issue #22                                                                                                                   Sept. '00

To find a band that really knocks your socks off…well, that can lead you on a journey of discovery. And that journey can be along one of several different roads, each worth traveling. As music aficionados you surely have traversed each of these.

*There’s the - 1st Album discovered upon release, which leads you to each subsequent release where you either travel to the end of the road with the Artist or finally hit a fork that sees you part ways.
*Then there’s the - discover an Artist midway-to-late in their career, where you must back track along the road they paved which brought them to you.
*Or the – You cross paths with the Artist as they are still carving the way…

Back in June of ’00 IndepenDisc featured the Chicago based band The Differents and their 2nd album entitled This Years Model. We praised their skill in capturing the vast and expansive culture that is known as Rock-n-Roll. We marveled at their musical prowess. We tagged their style as “Rock-n-Roll for the ages” due to the sheer genius in which they constructed sound landscapes that drew from 4 decades past, yet represented a map of the future.

Next, lead man Lou Hallwas sent us two more discs. The 1st album by The Differents entitled ¡VIVA! and an EP of The Differents most recent “non-released” material. Both of which not only confirmed, but solidified our convictions derived from This Years Model.

¡VIVA! allows us to peek back at the beginning of the path that we joined with This Years Model. And what we find is, where This Years Model produced a road being paved with Rock-n-Roll, it was the Rock-n-Soul of ¡VIVA! which cut the swath allowing the groundwork to be laid by Lou Hallwas (vocals, guitars, piano), Dan Garrity (Drum kit), and a few helpers. ¡VIVA! shows The Differents affection not only for all genres of Rock music from the 50s on up, but in particular the soul sounds found on the early to mid 60s Stax/Volt label and the psychedelic garage sound of the mid 60s so perfectly exemplified on the “Nuggets” box set. Traveling this road we can’t dismiss the landmarks which point to things to come (This Years Model & the EP) drawing parallels to late 70s/early 80s Paul Weller and The Jam as well as early 90s Jim Ellison and Material Issue (of which The Differents cover several songs).

¡VIVA! Rocks us with the soul and funk of our memories as we travel the path it is laying down on its way to navigating us through the musical jungle of the multi-genre rock that lies ahead (This Years Model), and beyond…Join us.

The Differents - ¡VIVA!
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