Matt Gleason, Tulsa World, 5/4/06
(edited to keep last names mysterious)

Acoustic Ross, aka Ross G., is locally known for his sharp, sometimes wise-cracking, anti-folk tunes that are played all by his lonesome.

In Math Lab, however, the 35-year-old Ross ditches anti-folk and his acoustic guitar to sing and play his electric six-string with a full rock band.

The sound on Math Lab's self-titled four-song EP, which the group will release this Saturday night at a free Deadtown Tavern gig, is something in between angsty indie rock and ballsy classic rock.

On the EP, Ross handles his three melodic rock cuts while bassist Jarrod O. unleashes his feisty, screamed vocals on "Coma Acting."

Each member of Math Lab - Ross on vox and guitar, guitarist/singer Michael I., bassist/singer O. and Dennis P. on drums - brought various influences into the mix, Ross said.

"We're all kind of coming from different places," Ross said. "Dennis is a big Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age fan. Michael, the other guitar player, is really more of a classic rock guy so he's kind of bringing some of that Led Zeppelin feel. Jarrod is kind of more into a lot of indie stuff like the Shins, but he's also really into Clutch and stuff like that."

So, Ross, someone asks you what Math Lab sounds like, what do you tell them?

"I guess we're a hard rock band," he said. "It seems like a weird way to put it but I can't think of any better way to put it. Soft-prog? I don't know. It's really hard to pin it down. I'm kind of proud I can't pin it down."

Ross actually likes to refer to it as "black t-shirt rock."

"I don't know that hard rock is a better term than that," he said. "It just seems like the kind of stuff you'd go see and everybody in the crowd would be wearing black t-shirts, as would most of the band."

To check out the tunes in advance, go to myspace.com/mathlab. For the EP release show, which starts at 10pm, Delmer Veedle will also perform.