SSM

Genre: Rock Hometown: Detroit MI
www.ssmothership.com

Friday, March 17   8:00 p.m.
Beerland   (711 1/2 Red River St)

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  SSM - Exit Strategy
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Collaboration between trio of Detroit rock pillars produces potent new
album…

To say that things “came together quickly” for Detroit avant-rock outfit
SSM is the mother of all understatements. Like a torrent of madness, the kind that produces works of shocking brilliance, the trio of
singer/keyboardist John Szymanski, drummer Dave Shettler and
singer/guitarist Marty Morris ground a pearl from sand in less time than it
takes most bands to tie their collective shoelaces.

Known best for their significant contributions to Detroit rock via the
Hentchmen, the Sights and the Cyril Lords, respectively, SSM came together
on the 4th of July 2005 for the express purpose of recording an August 15th 2005 album with friend and contemporary Dan Auerbach of Akron, Ohio’s much-lauded Black Keys. The songs, the sounds and the concepts behind SSM were conceived, written, rehearsed and recorded all within that brief time span – and the results are captivating.

From the shambolic rumble of “Exit Strategy” to the pumped-up R-n-B of “No Looking Back” and the spastic synth-beat of “Ain’t Love,” “LP1” represents the full range of possibilities available to the creative consciousness when artists “stop worrying” and learn to love the chaos. Szymanski’s
“man-possessed” yowl and Morris’s teen heartthrob pop lament set the
unusual arrangements off in handsome style. And Shettler, one of the finest
rock drummers to emerge from Detroit’s full-flower garage explosion, swings
effortlessly between “live” drums and evocatively-programmed percussion.

Lumbering bass, Samba, pop and art-rock all find their way into the mix.
And the band’s live show, a heady collision of strobe-light infused ecstasy and throbbing, low end sexuality, has proven to be just as explosive as “LP1.” Upon the speedy completion of the album, the band joined the Black Keys on the road for the duo’s sold-out West Coast tour – further tightening the screws on the new machine.

Now thrilling audiences with their shocking new creation both at home and
across the country, SSM is currently filming a video for the track “Sick” –
one more jewel in the crown as the trio continues its relentless charge
across the rock landscape. SSM is burning brightly, moving toward a sonic revelation of indeterminable power. All will be revealed, friends --be there when the curtain comes up.