IT'S ALL GREEK TO LOCAL BAND ON SONG FROM DEBUT RECORD.

Seattle Post Intelligencer

By Gene Stout, P-I Pop Music Critic

Oct 9-15, 1998

Travis Bracht, lead singer for Seattle rock band Second Coming, isn't of Greek descent. But he sings a powerful and convincing version of "Afilotimi," based on a traditional Greek song. The song, which includes Greek lyrics, as well as original English lyrics by Bracht, is on the band's new Capitol Records debut album, "Second Coming."

It was bandmate and bassist Yanni "Johnny" Bacolas, whose parents are Greek, who introduced the song to Bracht. "When I first started hanging out with Johnny, he was always listening to Greek music in his Jeep," Bracht said by phone from a tour stop in Columbus, Ohio. "And I thought, 'Cool.' I'll listen to anything. If I dig it, I dig it. And Mediterranean music is rad." Bacolas made Bracht a tape of Greek music that included a version of "Afilotimi." "I learned the Greek (lyrics) from listening to it over and over again," Bracht said.

Guitarist Dudley Taft suggested doing an original version of the song for the album, adding some guitar parts and English lyrics. "I added this deep, Mediterranean, Doors-y feel to the song," Bracht said. "The English words are what I thought, 'Afilotimi' was about. Because I didn't know the meaning of the Greek lyrics and nobody could really explain them." Bracht's lyrics begin with the verse: "It was the strangest look/ I'd ever seen/ All the stars had mischief in their eyes."

Even if "Afilotimi" became a rock anthem for young Greek Americans, it isn't the song radio listeners are likely to hear in the coming weeks. The first single is "Soft," a heavy rocker that is moving up Billboard's mainstream rock chart as the group tours the country. Other songs include the high-energy "Confessional," the delicate "Vintage Eyes" and the hyperkinetic "Electric Head."

The Capitol album is a repackaged version of the band's previous, self-titled album produced by Kelly Gray. Three new songs, also produced by Gray, were added to the Capitol version. This month, Second Coming - Bracht, Bacolas, Taft and drummer James Bergstrom - joins Candlebox for a tour, primarily of the South and Southwest. After winning a vigorous bidding war to sign the band, Capitol has pledged plenty of promotional support, despite the departure of label head Gary Gersh. Gersh, who was involved in the careers of Nirvana and Foo Fighters, played an important role in signing Second Coming to Capitol. "I think they have a good idea of who they are in the marketplace, where they can fit in and what their strengths are," Gersh said of the band after Capitol signed the group last May. "I think they know what it's going to take to succeed."

But reality didn't set in until the group set out on it's current tour. "It didn't really hit us until we saw the bus," Bracht said, referring to the group's mammoth tour bus. Bracht isn't sure if he's fully prepared for mainstream success, should it come. "I haven't gotten used to the fact that we're actually doing this, getting on and off a bus and performing all over the country," he said.