Jam-based rock groups draw upon '60s influences

The Grateful Dead certainly had a big influence on our culture and music. Inventing the psychedelic and drug-inspired jam rock of the late 1960s, the Dead blended the sounds of blues and rock together with genius. Though Jerry Garcia has passed on, his music is still influencing musicians today.

This is especially true for two area bands, Juggling Suns and Grinch.

On Living on the Edge of Change, the debut CD from Juggling Suns, the New Jersey-based band shows its stuff on the jam-oriented riffs used throughout its songs. The quintet, featuring former Solar Circus guitarist Mark Diomede, starts the album off with "Wicked History" and "Mountain Marlene," a couple of high-energy tunes that leave you wanting to be out in a muddy, Woodstock-esque summertime concert dancing the day away.

On the following tracks, especially "Obsession," one gets the feeling of being at a West College Avenue house party with a crew of tie-dye-clad hippies listening to slow jams. Juggling Suns employs some interesting keyboard solos, both electric and acoustic, to bring a fresh flavor to its sound on cuts such as "Tabla Rasa '97" and "Restless."

The album's last two songs bring you back out to an open-air concert, or perhaps to the road getting there. Appropriately named, "Open Road Jam" puts the listener at the wheel of a 1976 Volkswagen bus cruising down Interstate 66.

Though Juggling Suns finds success in using the jam-rock style, Grinch is still struggling to put a unique spin on its sound.

Grinch's new album Move also features all-original jam rock, though the label "original music" is a relative term. Grinch creates a good blend of upbeat rhythms and lyrics, but its style is hardly new. Again, influence from the Grateful Dead prevails throughout, making for a clichéd album.

Move does have its bright spots for fans of the bluesy feel of jam rock. "Gettin' a Keg" is an instrumental piece that pushes the band's guitars and keyboards into a state of blues ecstasy. Though this works, the next track, "Cornerbag Blues," falls back into bland and overdone keyboard and guitar riffs.

Both bands will be appearing in the State College area, along with Recipe, in a show Wednesday at Crowbar, 420 E. College Ave. Juggling Suns will be appearing again, this time with Disco Biscuits, at 10:30 p.m. Thursday at Café 210 West, 210 W. College Ave.