Today’s chart-topping singles and albums are often a collision of genres. “Britain’s Got Talent” contestant band Scala blew audiences away with electric string instruments before topping charts. Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” gained popularity for its mashing of country themes with a sick dubstep drop. But it’s not often a band describes its music as “psychedelic dance rock.” Four-man band The Werks takes clashing genres to a new level, and its members are eager to treat fans with their unique sound at the Majestic Thursday.
Rocking since 2007, the Dayton-based group formed after three bands, once competitors, joined forces and melded into one. Since then, the band has released four studio albums and played all over the country.
Dino Dimitroules, The Werks’ bassist and vocalist, told the story of how the band decided on its unconventional name in an interview with The Badger Herald. After struggling to find a name for the mash-up that is the band itself, inspiration hit one day at a restaurant.
“Rob, our drummer, orders a burger, and he says, ‘I’ll take the works on it,'” Dimitroules reminisced. “And we all looked at each other, and we were like, that’s it. We’re The Werks.”
The name best describes the band’s blending of multiple genres with a little bit of everything, Dimitroules said.
Its most recent album, self-titled The Werks, grooves, rocks and jams with sounds that are meant for the live stage.
“This album is different because it incorporates our live feel more than albums from the past,” Dimitroules said. “We combine the electronic feel, but with an organic twist.”
The Werks has an almost even number of instrumental and lyrical tracks, but every song has that psychedelic feel of the band.
Blending traditional rock instruments and electronic beats, The Werks’ shows incorporate improvisation into an already high-energy performance.
The band has played at several music festivals in the past year, from Electric Forest to North Coast. The band is excited to be back in Madison, Dimitroules said.
The Werks played in Madison a couple years ago and were supposed to open for Victor Wooten at the Majestic last month. But, due to bus troubles, they had to cancel their performance. Dimitroules said if any fans that were unable to see them still had their ticket stub from last month they can get into Thursday’s show for free.
Madison’s unique blend of culture and style perfectly fits The Werks’ image and sound. The Werks has found a middle ground between an older age of music and new trends in electric rock. Dimitroules tells fans to “expect the unexpected” at Thursday’s concert.
The Werks will jam and rock for audiences at the Majestic this Thursday. Doors open at 8 p.m. and tickets are $10. More information can be found at majesticmadison.com.
