The driving group terrifically encapsulates Jersey's music mecca Watch video
ASBURY PARK -- Long before he'd strum on the legendary Stone Pony stage, opening for lauded punk acts Social Distortion and The Bouncing Souls, Doug Zambon was a kid at an Arlo Guthrie concert -- a lot of Arlo Guthrie concerts.
He and his father would attend Guthrie's annual Thanksgiving shows in New York, and absorb the folk icon's heap of wistful, subversive jams.
"Those shows really left an impact on me," Zambon says. "I've always had a soft spot for acoustic folk and country guitars."
A bit of that twang assimilates into Zambon's rollicking Asbury Park act The Vansaders, though the band's hardy new EP "This Time Around" surely suggests a more engrained punk influence.
"But I didn't grow up a punk-rocker at all," Zambon, 27, admits. "Growing up, I listened to a lot of Bob Dylan, a lot of old school Delta Blues, finger-picking stuff."
So what happened?
"I don't know, man ... I got angry," he laughs.
The Vansaders, a country and punk-influenced rock band from Asbury Park, performing at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park. (Courtesy of The Vansaders) The disheartening content on "Around" could have something to do with it -- much of the five-track deals with tough breakups, and even the uniquely millennial frustration of moving back home.
More telling could be the instincts of Pete Steinkopf, longtime guitarist for the raging Souls and owner of Little Eden Studios in Asbury Park, where the album was laid down.
"He's such a nice guy," Zambon says. "He's added a lot to our sound, he's got a lot of great ideas."
With Steinkopf's touch and in the band's third iteration in the last five years -- Zambon is the sole founding member -- The Vansaders seem poised to launch closer to the top of Asbury Park's saturated rock scene, touting a banner mix of punk, rock and folk that reflects well upon what's going on down by the Shore. In its five years out and about, the group has improved significantly, and its unassuming brand of drive is refreshing in a music mecca that can sometimes take itself too seriously.
"This Time Around" drops Saturday, after the band plays its album release show at The Stone Pony, opening for more raucous favorites -- Flogging Molly and Frank Turner.
THE LINEUP
Vocals/guitar -- Doug Zambon, 27, Ocean Township
Guitar -- Deaglan Howlett, 20, Red Bank
Bass guitar -- Kyle Zupe, 30, Middletown
Drums -- Jay Maranzino, 27, Middletown
WHAT THEY SOUND LIKE
In the Asbury Park scene, there's the old crowd -- those who actually remember Springsteen or Southside Johnny playing the Upstage Club -- and the new crowd, whose tastes often skew toward indie folk-rock or gritty punk. By calculation or coincidence, The Vansaders manage to encapsulate all of these influences, as the tracks off "Around" pump at a punk pace, but the twanging guitar lead-in on "Don't Care, She Don't Mind" is certainly more Guthrie's turf.
But then the single "Long Lost" kicks with a sweeping rock riff, something The Gaslight Anthem fans would go for, and the EP includes a quick-fingered, bruising cover of "Dancing In The Dark." Zambon's sharp tone and delivery meld a combo of British folk-punker Frank Turner, with whom the band will play Saturday, and the Souls' Greg Attonito -- Steinkopf's touches seem to have stuck.
WHO THEY SOUND LIKE
Frank Turner, Against Me!, The Gaslight Anthem
WHY THEY MATTER
Two notes here:
1. If Asbury Park's chamber of commerce were to shoot a tourism video for the oceanfront and downtown Cookman Avenue, a Vansaders song would be an ideal soundtrack. Everything about this group represents the city's rekindled flame, and their sound feels like a more accessible bridge to some more esoteric genres around town. If you need an entrance point to what's going on in New Jersey's hottest music scene, The Vansaders are a worthy place to start.
2. Despite the quality of the tunes, there seems to be no premeditation in the writing. Zambon just likes to play music between a few part-time jobs, he got a few guys around him to learn the songs and this is what they came up with. That's about it. Frankly, it's a bit baffling, how organically these sounds came together, but hey, sometimes the simplest organism is the strongest.
WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM
Saturday -- The Stone Pony, Asbury Park; opening for Flogging Molly and Frank Turner. Tickets available here.
Bobby Olivier may be reached at bolivier@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BobbyOlivier and Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.