>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

OUT FROM THE UNDERGROUND: Boston band Vanna rocks on. (Website photo).

LA GRANDE - With their debut U.S. release "Twelve Ways To Breathe," Irish-American rockers Morello are ready to shatter the cult of posers and fakes that dominate the so-called "scenes" of contemporary youth culture.

Morello is back to headline a big show Friday at Gadfly.

Besides the popular band from Dublin, Ireland, Friday's Gadfly Entertainment show also features Lights Below from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Love Hate Hero from Los Angeles, Vanna from Boston and Blinded Black from St. Louis.

The show will take place inside the Gadfly, 117 Elm St. Doors open at 7 p.m. with all ages welcome. Admission is $12.

Explains Steve of Morello, "We're sick to death of ten-a-penny-haircut bands peddling the ‘I'm so depressed because my girlfriend left me' line. For us music has always been about challenging false perceptions, being true to your self and giving hope to those who need it. We wanted to make a record that would empower the weak, ease the burdened, inspire the settler and shatter the self-imposed mediocrity of modern living."

According to its website, "Twelve Ways to Breathe" is Morello's call to arms, a personal dictate that forbids band members from accepting the mundane and the average.

"We are all capable of so much more if we examine our lives, believe in ourselves and reject the hecklers, pessimists and charlatans that want to hold us down," Steve says.

Morello has spent the last year blazing a trail across North America with a cathartic live performance that has seen them compared to explosive acts like At The Drive In and post hardcore pioneers The Refused.

"When a kid tells you that you've made a difference," Darren says, "is when the 10-hour overnight coffee-fueled drives don't seem so long after all and when somehow your own life seems just a little more valuable."

Vanna, meanwhile, is rising out of New England's surging post-hardcore scene.

Vanna has emerged with intense brutality to stake their claim at the forefront of the genre.

With relentless touring, an inexorable passion for music and an army of dedicated fans by their side, the band has clawed their way out from the underground to debut their first full-length album, "Curses," a

sonically ferocious album that features the group's unique blend of blistering metal and cathartic melody.

In October 2006, Vanna headed to Seattle to record their first full-length album, "Curses," with esteemed producer Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Norma Jean) at Robert Lange Studio.