‘Rock Star: Mas Nova’

Don’t be surprised. The hot Erie group already displays the confidence and bravura of a major-label band.

PREVIEW by Dave Richards Staff writer

Never mind “Rock Star: Supernova.” The next band to make waves might come out of Erie, not some TV reality show.

Are your ready for “Rock Star: Mas Nova”? They are. “Hollywood,” the quartet’s debut CD, displays a confidence and bravura — not to mention ambition — more typical of seasoned, major-label bands.

The rockers sizzle with roughhewn fury and sawed-off intensity, while slower, moodier cuts such as “Porsche” and “Pop Song” feature such delicate, spellbinding melodies and compelling vocals they ought to earn Mas Nova mass airplay.

They already sound like rock stars, in other words, totally in command of their craft. Emotionally, they work from gut-level, infusing every song with passion that bleeds. As songwriters, they labor on songs until they get them exactly right and then, only then, do they make the set list.

“That’s why it took us so long to play out,” said singer Joe Newcomer, who writes most the songs with guitarist Jason Bean. “We were together almost a year before we ever played a show.

“With as many people as we know in music in the area, we had to. We don’t really have a choice to go up there and float out some song and sound silly in front of people who know music. I knew if I had a band, it would have to be good before I showcased it.”

Mas Nova also wanted a debut that showcased all the band’s strengths. So “Hollywood,” produced by Trevor Huster, contains a variety of moods and tempos.

“I didn’t want any of the songs to sound the same,” Newcomer said. “All the songs had to make sense together; they all had to be our own style. And once we got down to tracking the album, I wanted to make it flow and not be stagnant.

ECHOES OF BANDS SUCH AS Velvet Revolver, Guns ’n Roses, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, even the Doors infiltrate their tunes. But they have an epic scope that escapes many of today’s bands, coupled with an edge that classic-rock bands never displayed.

“It’s a strange mix of old and new,” Huster said. “Some of the guitar work reminds me of old Guns ‘n Roses, with that kind of a rock vibe, that power. But some the ballads have such a new and fresh sound they’re like these big, rich tapestries, almost reminiscent of Led Zeppelin and Stone Temple Pilots.”

Newcomer’s impassioned vocals carry heft and power. He can go from hush to roar effortlessly on “In Your Heart” and keep you enraptured even on 5-minute-plus tracks such as “Stumbling” and “Pop Song.”

At 5-foot-7 and 115 pounds, he’s model-thin, which makes his powder-keg vocals all the more surprising.

“I always get asked where that power comes from,” Newcomer said. “I guess it’s just the passion you have for what you’re writing. If it’s personal and means something to you, you can put yourself into it.

“Everything I write is completely personal. There’s nothing fictional about it. It’s just a matter of making it poetic.”

HUSTER IS ESPECIALLY HIGH ON “Hollywood’s” vocals tracks.

“This is some of the best vocal work that I’ve ever been a part of,” he said. “On some of the ballads, it feels like flying over the desert low, and then all of a sudden, you fly over the Grand Canyon, and the bottom drops out. It’s awe-inspiring.”

Huster is such a fan he asked Mas Nova to become the first artist on his start-up label Record Breaker.

Mas Nova’s lineup changed during the recording. New bassist Tommy Gary locks in with drummer Chris Ottena, giving the band its throttling urgency. The group lost its rhythm guitarist, but Super No. 7’s Ryan Krysiak will step in for Wednesday’s CD-release party at Sherlock’s. Expect to hear most of “Hollywood” and at least one surprise.

Whatever it is, expect it to have attitude. Mas Nova’s motto — “Help save rock and roll” — harks back to an era when rock bands flirted with danger. They played with desperation. They played because they had to.

“It’s just about bringing back a style of rock and roll that’s been dumbed down,” Newcomer said.

“We’re unapologetic in that way. … Everyone is so PC now and so worried about what they say and who they offend. We just want to throw down and have a good time and be brash and be rude, like the whole Jim Morrison thing on stage. It’s sexy rock. There’s no bubblegum in it.”

Mas Nova will play a CD-release party with guests Super No. 7 and Dirt McGurtt on Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. at Sherlock’s, 508 State St. Cover charge not determined at press time.