American Gas Jive

Action Strasse is an Indianapolis-based rock outfit featuring local legends Vess Ruhtenberg and John Zeps on dueling lead guitars. Ruhtenberg also doubles as the lead singer and main songwriter. Action Strasse is true rock `n' roll with a splash of punk and metal; not the copycat crap you hear on the radio, but the kind of music your weird uncle would play when he came to visit. Heavy riffs, great songwriting, and stellar playing all around. The only thing Action Strasse could have done to improve their debut was to release it on cassette. Action Strasse, a quintessential Midwestern rock `n' roll band, came about in an odd way. Former members of Majhas (John Zeps, Tony Reitz, Tommy Roosa), finding themselves without a singer, called on Vess Ruhtenberg, who was between projects. Ruhtenberg, who was in architectural design school and pressed for time, wrote a song an hour before each rehearsal and before long (10 rehearsals!) the group had an explosive batch of songs. Recorded and mixed in five days, American Gas Jive is a tribute to the golden age of the rock album. Songs about girls, petrol, and how religion and war are destroying humanity all fit annoyingly well together in these troubling times. All the members of Strasse have participated in other notable projects, some of which eclipse this band's humble standing, but that is likely to change as soon as this inspiring set of songs is heard.