Sublime tribute pleases listeners

It was Friday night at Bluebird Nightclub. Waves of sound pounded through the door of the backstage room.
There, the musicians of Sublime tribute act Secondhand Smoke waited in church pew seating while local band The Broderick rocked away.
Chris Gelbuda, Secondhand Smoke’s lead singer and guitarist, burst through the backstage door after sampling the performance.
“These guys have a ton of potential. I hope they go on tour,” Gelbuda said. “They’re not as soothing. It’s just good songwriting. I’m kind of jealous.”
The Broderick was named after the 1930s slang for a beat-down, guitarist and lead singer Max Mullen said.
The band played to a crowd of friends and fans.
IU alumna and friend of the band Kelsie Hacker described The Broderick’s sound as “indie rock with folkish lyrics.”
And she said she appreciated their energy.
“As far as live shows, you can’t really beat it,” Hacker said.
The Broderick opened for Secondhand Smoke, whose drummer, Brad Dickert, said his band keeps the music alive for fans since Sublime’s lead singer, Bradley Nowell, passed away in 1996.
“With Sublime, you just can’t (see them live),” Gelbuda said. “People have a thirst to get as close to the real thing as possible, and they’ll find that fix any way they can.”
Outside their cover band, Secondhand Smoke members perform in an array of other bands and all have original projects.
Gelbuda has a recent solo EP, “Sunshine.” Graham Czach’s debut album, “Lucid,” was unveiled in 2010.
Czach described his album as “in the vein of harder rock, with some retro ’60s and ’70s psychedelic stuff.”
Czach said music is a more complex art form than just sex, money and drugs.
As a trained musician, he said he appreciates intellectual music and worries that pop music has been watered down.
“In the ’60s, you had the Beatles,” Czach said. “Now we have Justin Bieber.”
Fans also await The Broderick’s new album.
Senior Scott Schmadeke describes their music as not only “apathetic and chanty” while still positive, but “sometimes heartbroken
and beautiful.”
The upcoming album is about 80 percent finished, lead guitarist John Codespoti said. “We’ll shop around (for labels) and build hype and anticipation.”
With the new album will likely come a name change, since an Australian band shares their current name.
The band has already gone through some changes, as it no longer has a keyboard player and has a new bassist, Eric Day.
“After our bass player left, Eric was the only one we wanted,” Mullen said. “He brings a
different background.”
Drummer Quintin Schulze said the band is focusing on “letting it (our sound)
grow naturally.”
Codespoti agreed and said the band wants something people can listen to instead of
something obscure.
“It’s very heartfelt, very captivating,” senior Luke Miller said of the band’s sound. “You get into it and really feel the emotion in the band.”