‘Two Door Rev’ revs up the music scene
Two Door Rev’s latest album, Noise In The Same Key was released earlier this year. Photo credit: Jae Siqueiros
Chico is a deep hub for unique and aspiring musicians of all ages. The two-man band, Two Door Rev, stands out among the crowd for their progressively punk sound and politically critical messages.
Sam Wotruba, the band’s lead guitarist and vocalist, first met the band’s drummer, Jean Thorn at Paradise High School. Although the two were vastly different people, their love for Green Day ignited a long term friendship and musical collaboration.
“At the time, we were driving two-door cars and we were also a two-person band,” Wotruba said. “Two Door Rev was the stupidest, coolest name we could manage.”
With the band’s distinctive name and vocals, bands like Queens of the Stone Age and the Arctic Monkeys inspire their sound. Many of their songs have a raw sort of rock spin to them with ambient, psychedelic melodies meant to sound introspective.
“When we first tried to start a band, I wasn’t good. I didn’t know how to play music,” Wotruba said. “So that began a lot of soul-searching and learning how to play music for a band.”
It was through music that the duo grew together and enabled them to create their most recent album, “Noise in the Same Key.” The album collectively displays the hypocrisies found in modern-day politics and the realities of being a “stupid college student.”
“Can’t Evolve” is a track from their new album that analyzes the irony of supporting Donald Trump like characters and then wondering why the world is so messed up. The lyrics are simple and short, but powerful.
The eloquent lyrics add to the overarching theme of the album, which calls out society for its hypocritical and self-destructive ways.
“React” is another popular song in the same album which draws a parallel between two political parties feigning for an audience’s attention and a winning a girl’s attention.
It isn’t common in most music to see a connection between politics and love interests, but the way the band crafts their lyrics makes it seem like the two have always belonged together.
“Call Me When You’re Bored” from their EP, Two Door Rev, is one of their biggest and most relatable hits. This song and album were written after a confusing period in Wotruba’s life in which a strong but short friendship suddenly ended.
“It was just my angry way of saying, alright that was fun and all but you just left,” Wotruba said. “However, if you called again I probably wouldn’t oppose that.”
Two Door Rev’s biggest hope is for their audiences to connect to their music and lyrics. The more that people do, the more exposure they hope to achieve.
Although drummer Jean Thorn will be joining the Air Force in the new year, the band will continue making music. Their next performance will be at The Maltese in downtown Chico the first week of December.
Anisha Brady can be reached at [email protected] or @theorion_news on Twitter.
