Sometimes

They say being in a band is like being in a gang… when they’re not saying being in a band is like being married. Overlook the fact that, by those standards, Mickey and Mallory Knox would’ve been better off just starting a band called Natural Born Killers, then consider the clichés’ implications. Both speak to the combustibility and compatibility that make rock ‘n’ roll truly invincible. Which is all well and good, but the truth is being in a band is like hitting 21 in blackjack again and again and again. Luck is the ultimate x-factor, even more so than chops and chemistry.

How else can you explain the study in contradiction that is Seattle’s pile driving Point One? They play unapologetically assaultive hard rock… with a brain and a conscience. They distill equal parts Metallica and Radiohead into their crushing compositions… hailing from an environment that prefers sedate indie-rock introspection. It’s fitting that vocalist Lenny Hotrum and bassist Darren Howard, the volatile quartet’s principal songwriters, approach their craft from diametrically opposing standpoints, yet make it work.

“Len kind of brings the heavier element… you know, the de-tuning, the screaming and stuff,” Howard reveals. “I try to bring more melody and more interesting chords, different styles, make things a little more cinematic sounding.”
Celestial is more like it. Point One’s third full-length, Unlucky Stars (following 2002’s Stress Related Injuries and 2005’s The Absence) careens recklessly from seething yet melodic anthems like “Cruel” to sleazy biker bar throwbacks like “Monochrome Mistress,” yet boasts almost seamless continuity. Longtime friends Hotrum, Howard, and drummer Chase Culp had plenty of time to perfect the band’s alternately snotty and sincere schizophrenia before guitarist Keith Wright joined the fold three years ago. A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, Hotrum and Culp were exorcising their inner goths under the moniker Rosary Wall when an auditioning Howard put his foot down: “I said I’m not being in a band called Rosary Wall and I’m not wearing fishnets,” he recalls with a laugh. “I said if we change the name and I get to wear color, I’ll [join].”
Evolution was astonishingly swift. Hotrum’s unmistakable, hoarse war cry perfectly complemented Howard’s artier sensibilities. Another portent of the perfect storm: the lyrical puree of Hotrum’s spiritual yearning and Howard’s more secular ruminations on women and friendship stoked a universal perspective that resonated in both confessional power rock (“Oxygen”) and balls-out glam-slams (“Drama Queen”).

“This is where Mötley Crüe and Guns N’ Roses come into the picture for us,” Hotrum notes. “They’re a huge inspiration and those bands were obviously kick-ass, dirty, slutty rock ‘n’ roll and that’s missing [today]. That stuff doesn’t really happen any more. That’s our release and that’s our fans’ release.”

Anybody who’s seen Point One can attest that catharsis isn’t pretty, onstage or in the pit. Even in a city bewitched by homegrown emo heroes like Death Cab for Cutie, Point One have nurtured a devoted fan base that not only rolls out homemade shirts and banners, but pays the ultimate tribute: inscribing tattoos of lyrics on their arms. The band is doing everything in their power to make them not regret it. Striving for honesty and truth without pretension in their lyrics, Hotrum and Howard call it like they see it, detailing life’s hardships without passing judgment or wallowing in self-pity. It’s most evident on Unlucky Stars’ title track, a churning pinball machine of hooks inspired by the band’s recent experiences with L.A. superficiality.

“There’s all these beautiful women who feel like shit about themselves,” Hotrum says. “It’s obvious when they’re talking to you about what they’re doing—trying to be, like, an extra and their day job is a cocktail waitress. There are 10,000 people standing in line ahead of them. They lose sight of who they are.”

Such is the uncensored reflection Point One provide. Whatever styles come and go, they’re constantly redecorating their already unique niche.
“The more trendy it is, the more temporary it is,” Howard shrugs. “We’re just trying to do something that—not to be too lofty—but something that will stand up a little over time, something that we genuinely like.”

Point One 2007