by Garrick Rawlings
The resurrected Hermosa Beach band One Square Mile [1SM] reformed with two new members about a year ago, with lead singer Vanessa Kaylor Phillips, and drummer Terry Davidson. 1SM hit it hard last year, pounding stages all over SoCal, approaching 50 shows. Their final show of the year was with Agent Orange at Saint Rocke in December.
For anyone who has witnessed them on stage, their new, 5-song EP, Source of Suffering is a treat. They’ve done a great job of capturing their natural live dynamics, which many good live bands fail to do in the studio.
Along with the solid songs and performances, a big reason for the big sound is they recruited Grammy winning producer Cameron Webb, who’s produced a range of acts with an emphasis on heavier music, including Danzig, NOFX, Godsmack, Pennywise and the legendary Motörhead. Webb produced seven of their late career releases, including my favorite later-day Motörhead album 2004’s Inferno – it just burns and Lemmy roars. What a great score by 1SM to work with this talented man. They recorded at Webb’s own studio, Maple Sound Studios down in Santa Ana.
Source of Suffering is 1SM’s third official release, following their debut EP, Kickin’ Rocks (2017) and full album The System (2018). The new EP is a logical and effective progression. Kaylor Phillips has a deep respect for original 1SM singer Noel Neville, and brings with her a whole new dimension to the band. She was active in punk when she was younger but up until joining 1SM she was musically involved with blues projects with her husband, dancing with The Hollywood It Girls.
1SM is experienced in South Bay punk, but are very much their own mesh of style. Phillips brings interesting outside influences. The way she can explode from rhythmic punk expression into a 100 miles an hour, soaring banshee wail is remarkable. She writes the lyrics, co-writing two songs with veteran bassist Todd King.
Guitarist/writer John McCree, who founded the band, is the core of 1SM’s sound and is a tone monster. His riffs and fills flow both with a vocal-like diction and staccato precision. In punk fashion, there are no guitar solos but also no boring and repetitive riffs. There’s always something interesting going on, melodic little fills and accents. These five crisp songs include nice little breakdowns and often shift gears with time changes. The subjects of the song range from the deeply personal “Revisions of Truth,” to cultural “Remove You.” There is a lot of room for your own interpretation. Listening to the songs in succession takes you on a nice little trip. Their hardcore and punk style with more musicality remind me of one of my favorite albums by Tommy Victor’s excellent band Prong, especially their album Beg to Differ (1990) Tommy’s guitar playing and compositions out Metallica’d Metallica at the time. 1SM is the first band I’ve heard in a long time that mixes it up this well and executes it.
More on 1SM in Punk Meets Country, and San Pedro’s Own. ER
