Over the past decade, Charleston's output of high-quality rock
bands has left much to be desired. And if you add the word
"original" to that descriptor -- not so much in the sense of
"original music" as in "original musical concept" -- the list
is almost nil.

    That said, Charleston's Noizbox may be the best thing to emerge
from the Capital City in years (and years). The band pens original,
genre-crossing tunes that ricochet from metal riffage to intricate
guitar passages to speed-hillbilly -- with touches of deadpan humor and
psychedelia for good measure -- and performs them as a tight, proficient
unit. "Green Acres" meets Mr. Bungle at a Metallica concert?

    The first thing that would catch your eye when seeing Noizbox would
be singer/guitarist Brian Gunnoe's countenance. As they say, "he's
got a look" -- long, straight hair; black, Buddy Holly glasses; thick,
arched eyebrows that nearly meet in the middle and a furry "chin
strap" (a grown-out soul patch) that spans from his bottom lip to his
chin. Visually, he's a cross between Frank Zappa and Groucho Marx --
in fact, at a quick glance, you might think he's wearing one of those
plastic Groucho Marx masks.

    But Gunnoe's look is no gimmick. A Campbell's Creek lifer, the
26-year-old studied music at WV State College for three years with Chuck
Biel. During that time, it was Biel -- whose son Vince now forcefully
occupies Noizbox's drum throne -- who first introduced the future band
members.

    After three years of studying music, Gunnoe switched his major to
biology but has yet to get his degree.

    "Playing guitar is the only thing I really like to do," he
admitted. "Right now, I'm content to play music and be a bum."

    While he cultivates a slacker persona ("I don't do anything,"
he shrugged. "I need to get a job real bad."), at least musically,
Gunnoe's a busy guy. In addition to playing drums with the punkabilly
Pistol Whippers, he also plays with the elder Biel in the instrumental
string threesome Piccato Trio, which plays jazz and Latin tunes.

    Gunnoe sites musical influences like Anthrax and Faith No More, but
just as important, he also credits his grandfather, a guitarist who was
heavily into Chet Atkins and played hillbilly gospel, with adding the WV
wild card to Noizbox's music.

    "I guess we're a cross between old time music and Primus,"
said Gunnoe. "We kept some of the country and bluegrass picking style
and we try to incorporate that into our own stuff instead of trying to
be someone we're not."

    As a result, Noizbox is one of the few rock bands in the Valley to
integrate its hillbilly roots into its music in a non-traditional way.
Noizbox's approach is not only different, it's honest -- something
that Gunnoe agreed is not always the case with the rash of punkabilly
and white trash bands.

    "I mean the Cowslingers are from Cleveland," he said. "What
do they know? They're good, but it's more a show than honesty. I
just can't get into playing anything that I feel isn't real."

    Songs like "Red Bull" roar through machine-gun riffs that give
way to some frenetic old-time picking. "The Waltz," a longtime live
staple, segues from an ompah, circus feel to a series of hyper
instrumental breaks, one of which features Gunnoe flat-picking a banjo.

    Bassist Tim Starkey said the band is a big fan of melodic
dissonance. "We enjoy hearing a note that doesn't have to do with
the song," he said. "It keeps it interesting for us."

    "We intentionally skew things," added Gunnoe. "Instead of
basic chords, we throw in some weird notes that are out of the
chord."

    And then there's Gunnoe's vocals.

    "I kind of developed it over the years," he said of his
nasally, lispy affectation. "Now, I can't sing any other way. We
grew up around a lot of accents and a certain type of slang," he
added. "It's part of me, so I figured why not use it?"

    But it works. The infectious chorus on "The Waltz" consists of
Gunnoe squawking and yodeling syllables ("Ah-ha, "yo-oh,
"ee-ee") while on "Potluck" he alternates octaves, jumping
from a growl to a whine, and finally adding some twisted scat. "Girls
Grow On Trees" features Gunnoe spitting out words as fast as he picks,
and playing a brief nose trumpet solo.

    In various incarnations, Noizbox has been around since 1992, save
for a four-year hiatus between 1995 and 1999. Its current lineup --
Gunnoe, Biel, Starkey and guitarist John E. Sizemore -- has been around
for the past 18 months.

    Starkey, who grew up in Cleveland, has been friends with Gunnoe
since the two were 13.

    "I got into a couple of fights with Brian about him not liking
Motley Crue," said Starkey. "We've been friends ever since."

    Gunnoe and Starkey admitted the band's ambitions are modest.

    "We'd like to tour up and down the East Coast a bit," said
Gunnoe. "But moving away isn't in our plans right now."

    While it's hard to pin down the laid-back Gunnoe on much of
anything, both he and Starkey are not convinced that leaving WV is the
only path to success. They also have a keen appreciation of what the
area has to offer.

    "You can move anywhere in the world and it's not going to be
easy to be a financially independent musician," said Starkey. "If
you're bored here, you'll be bored anywhere in the world."

    "Yeah, this place is funny," added Gunnoe. "There's so much
culture here -- but yet we're starved for culture."