Desperate Measures, a Maryland band that’s staying true to the old school hardcore sound, have noble goals. When asked what he hopes people come away with upon hearing his band’s music, drummer Gene earnestly replies, “I hope our music inspires them to go out there and do what they believe in. We really don’t wanna tell people what to do exactly, but that they should decide what they wanna do for themselves and put all their effort into it,” continuing, “And we definitely want people to appreciate what they have, appreciate their friendships, and we kinda just wanna bring the feeling into hardcore again that [it’s] a positive thing and a good release as opposed to dwelling constantly on negative things…We just want people to come away feeling good.”
The band’s primary messages that appear throughout their debut full-length ‘Never Enough Time’ (they previously released an EP entitled ‘It’s on Your Hands’), reflect these desires. To wit, the album features no preaching, but rather is brimming with truly far-reaching subject matter and themes that anyone can relate to, such as doing what you feel to be right, the importance of friendships, and many references to living life to the fullest, as on the title track, “Never Enough Time”, with lines like “Make the most of time and do what you can, without regrets and what could have been/Time moves fast and it could pass you by, so take the moments before you die.” Along the same lines, improving one’s life and moving on is also a major theme. Take these lines from “Full Circle”: “The choices are yours and what you can do/Either give up on life or make it through/Learn from your mistakes and the choices you’ve made/Always try again with everyday.” Gene makes it clear that the lyrics have this overall positive feel because all the members of the band – himself, vocalist/chief lyricist Ryan, guitarists Eric and Danny, and bassist Jon – have a similar outlook on life, and they try to steer clear of really specific topics like straight edge and just write “lyrics that could apply to anyone’s life, but at the same time, our lyrics don’t really seem to [concentrate] on the negative and we definitely all really stand behind that.”
He affirms it’s a conscious decision among the guys to “make our lyrics a little more universal and a little less narrow-minded or made for one set of people.” Essentially, as he says, “There’s just the general theme of never enough time [and] realizing there’s a lot of good stuff out there right now both in the hardcore scene and in the world.” Poignantly, he concludes, “With the way things are going in both the world and the hardcore scene, it’s kinda easy to concentrate on the negative, but there are a lot of good things, and we kinda wanted to take the time to recognize those things.” And the fact that these guys are doing just that, really adds to their charm and authenticity. There’s definitely much substance to this band, something many acts out there today sadly lack.
Musically, as evidenced so well on their masterful 10-song album, Desperate Measures play a pummeling, speedy brand of hardcore with passionate vocals, crushing guitars, a formidable rhythm section, and well-placed, devastating breakdowns that draws influences from a variety of sources, including obvious ones like old school DC greats Minor Threat and Bad Brains, as well as some NYHC seminal bands like Agnostic Front, Antidote, and Cro-Mags. However, Gene is quick to add, “We try to work that influence into our sound without overdoing it because it’s become really popular for bands to pull from Cro-Mags or Killing Time and we’re definitely really into [them] and like to pull the influence from them but without making it so overt.” Newer bands they’re inspired by are Youngblood labelmates Far from Breaking (who recently disbanded – Desperate Measures were fortunate enough to play their last show ever January 18th in Texas…), Mental, and the now-defunct Count Me Out.
Yes, perhaps it seems a bit skimpy – 10 blistering tracks in a mere 18 minutes – but Gene explains the reasoning behind the decision to have a rather short album. Going into the studio, they had these 10 songs but also had some other ideas. However, when it was time to record, the guys decided it would be better to just include these tracks they felt really confident about instead of adding “a couple of filler songs.” Initially, they had wanted to cut 12 or 13 tracks in all, but, confides Gene, “when it looked like we’d be doing something that wasn’t our best, we decided it would be better just to concentrate on the 10.” So, the record may go by quickly, but there’s plenty of high-quality numbers to savor.
Because they now have a full-length out, Desperate Measures have had more opportunities to tour well past the East Coast. In fact, the band’s most recent outing was a West Coast tour in the winter. They began in Texas and went all along the West Coast, up to Vancouver, BC and Victoria, BC. This latter date was special, as Gene relates not many bands hit Victoria since it’s an island and a one-and-a-half hour-long ferry ride is required just to get there.
Touring plans for 2004 are “still up in the air,” according to Gene, but they’re anticipating an extensive U.S. tour in the summer so they can hit some of the Midwest cities they couldn’t get to last time around. If all goes as planned the tour would be booked around the Positive Numbers Fest in Wilkes-Barre, PA. About this huge annual event, which features about 50 bands and lures fans from all over the world, Gene says it’s “the most grassroots-level hardcore fest there is. It’s the best representative of the scene we come out of.” And he feels privileged that Desperate Measures have been able to participate two years now. But before the summer, the band will of course be playing shows – weekend shows, that is, as three of the guys are still in college – along the East Coast, the Midwest, and some down South as well. But don’t be fooled; the guys log many miles on these little treks. For instance, on these weekend road trips, they’ve actually managed to go as far north as Montreal.
So, just why should you come out to a Desperate Measures gig? “The live show is what…really represents us ‘cause to us, hardcore is about a live show,” explains Gene, “And it’s about not just standing around and watching a band. We hate playing shows where there’s bouncers and barriers. We like kids up front, we like kids stage-diving, and just in a live setting, you can really see what we’re all about and hear the things we have to say…We definitely try to give everything we have every time we play no matter how many kids are there or where it’s at.” Sounds pretty convincing to me.