On the cutting edge

Music Row
By Brian Rademaekers

A few weeks back I found myself wandering into the Fire, that gloriously unpolished Northern Liberties venue that is an oasis for aspiring local and national acts of all stripes.
It was late on a Saturday night, and I wasn’t hoping for much more than a cold beer. Soon, though, I found my eyes drawn to the stage by the fiery pink hair of Lydia Giordano, the Goth-clad guitarist for the local four-piece Surgeon.
Giordano and her bandmates launched into a furious set of songs that seemed to electrify every person in the club. Song after song, the energy in the room surged higher and higher toward some point of frenzied madness.
It was undeniably that pure, howling rock ’n’ roll energy that is the source of addiction for music junkies worldwide. And it has been a long time since I’ve witnessed it peddled in such an unadulterated and hair-raising form.
I left the Fire that night shaken and wondering just who the hell these guys were, and why they aren’t at the top of the play list of every radio station out there that claims to broadcast rock music.
Last week, I spoke to Sean Boltran, Surgeon’s frontman and bassist, to try to answer those questions.
In short, Surgeon is just getting started.
With no album currently on the books, any and all buzz surrounding the band has come from their frequent live shows around the city. Boltran said the group is in the process of collecting enough songs for an album and that the work of selecting a producer is underway.
With luck, those labors will produce the first Surgeon album by spring. Until then, the only way to really hear Surgeon is to see them live. The group has a few tracks posted on its MySpace page, and while they are expertly produced, none does justice to the enormous sound and exhilarating stage dynamic possessed by Surgeon.
Boltran said that quality comes in part from his longtime affiliation with Giordano. Both musicians grew up in the city’s Germantown section, and have long been collaborators on various musical projects.
Until recently, they played under the name Bumrunner, a band that was essentially a forerunner to Surgeon. Since changing names, the group added rhythm guitarist Chris Wilson. But the band’s fondness for driving guitar riffs and a style of rock that borders on metal and hardcore, touched with melodic vocals, remains intact, Boltran says.
Surgeon’s songs have the heart-pounding energy and pace of hardcore rock, and it is that quality that initially pulls you in.
At the same time, they devote the utmost attention to melody and compelling lyrics. Delivered by Boltran’s impeccably clear, cool and smooth vocals, the lyrics give the music a whole other level of intricacy to be appreciated. This uncommon and hard-to-reach balance of raw energy and well-crafted songs gives Surgeon its power to crank out over-the-top performances.
Creatively, Boltran pens the songs, but Giordano is largely responsible for engineering the brooding music that provides the foundation.
Onstage, Boltran thuds through the bass lines while taking the mike with gusto. Giordano, almost disappearing into the shadows, works effortlessly on the guitar to deliver blistering successions of chords. Aided by the rhythms of Wilson’s backup guitar and drummer Ari Miller’s precise percussion, Surgeon puts on a show that commands audiences to take notice.
You can see them on Saturday at a mini-music fest at Liberty Lands park, and again at the Khyber on Oct. 26. Take my advice and make a point of seeing them live. It’s an experience not to be forgotten. ••