Local band strikes all the right chords

Taking their name from an old Nintendo controller with an arcade stick and two large buttons for A and B, the Advantage lives out the dream of anyone who has ever played classic Nintendo and a musical instrument -- the band covers old Nintendo game themes.

The Advantage formed five years ago in Sacramento. According to their label's Web site (www.5rc.com), the "band's goal is to have recorded every Nintendo song by the time each member lie dead."

There are four members in the band, including drummer Spencer Seim, who is also the guitarist in the legendary northern California band, Hella.

The Advantage currently has one self-titled album released. The cover will immediately bring back old-time gamer memories, due to its depiction of a Nintendo console flying through space. While some songs on the album are more simple than others, the music overall is very technical and shows off the band's skill as musicians. Easily recognizable songs "Zelda, Fortress" and "Mario 3, Underworld" are some of the high-points of the album. Their songs even sound better than the renditions of the Super Mario Brothers theme often heard on the piano at night in the Benson Memorial Center.

My personal favorite, "Contra, Snowfields," is certainly the heaviest and most technical song on the album. However, songs like "Super Mario Brothers, Overworld" do not fit with the rest of the Advantage's covers due to its more upbeat and childlike enthusiasm in comparison to their more bass driven and darker choices such as "Castlevania 3, Epitaph."

However, not all of their covers are faithful copies of the original. They add drums to their songs where they did not have any before in the original Nintendo versions. They also avoid using samples and sound effects from the original songs they cover. However, the melodies are the same and according to the band, this keeps the Nintendo fans happy.

Luckily, the band is not big enough to attract attention from Nintendo, as they have not received any formal acknowledgement that the band can cover their songs.

The band can be found at www.theadvantageband.com along with a few of their mp3s.

* Contact Matt Zenel at mzenel@scu.edu