Rating: 10 / 10 Stars
NERD TABLE is: Adam Castro
REVIEW – Welcome to the year 2099. Adam Casto and his band Nerd Table give you another slice of the grunge scene in Ohio. You can clearly tell on every release from this band that first and foremost, they are fans of music. I feel each cd they put out is a celebration of the music that inspired them. Funny I mention that because we get a few covers on this cd. I am shocked as all hell that Adam and his band had the guts to cover “Go” by Pearl Jam. I was expecting him to do a different song when we got to this page in the book. Much like the cover of “Floyd the Barber”, this song is such a passion project that you cannot help but cheer the band on doing it. “Scum” by Meat Puppets, you can just hear the excitement in the sound. You know this was a major deal, and it comes across that way. The one thing I have always appreciated from this band since “Haliburton” is this band does not give a fuck and just goes for it.
Where other underground bands are carbon copies of their idols and heroes, Nerd Table is such a do not give a fuck band, that you have to applaud that while they celebrate their inspirations, they clearly do not stay in their shadows. That being said, if Syd Barrett grew up as a Meat Puppets fan, “Mowing Them Down on a Sunday” would be his first track on the next Pink Floyd cd. I dig the vibe of this song and this vibe seems to be layered all over this cd. “Right Said Ted” is a fun little song with an addictive sound and chorus. I have to say the guitar sound on this whole cd is so addictive. “Cosmic Being”, is all about the bridges we burn and the hands we slap away with a different vibe than I was expecting. This was one was the sleeper song on this cd. I did not expect something like this from this band. I feel this is the sound of 2099. That is a good way to look at the songs on this cd, this is where music will be by the year 2100. If I did not know, I would have thought this cd was a soundtrack. Each track sounds different than the last, beside the cover songs.
The thing about Nerd Table is that this is a band that wants to have a good time, and the infectious attitude plays off the listener. This time around, they show that they can dip in many waters and experiment to expand their bounds. Looking back on their discography, it is just shocking that this band has not become a big deal. They put out passion and integrity on each song and cd. Let us be honest, 1992 and the Seattle scene will never return to where it once was. But does it really need to? Nerd Table takes that spirit and gives us Ohio in 2099, and in my eyes that is where music needs to be heading. To give this a number rating is not fair. Adam Casto is my friend, and I even sang on a cd. I feel this is not so much a review as it is a warning about where the future is heading. The train to Ohio is starting to leave the fucking track. Nerd Table, I said in 2010, is the future of music. Fuck that, they are the right now and if you are not on this band, you are truly not a music fan.
