It seems like everybody is their own PR guy these days. I'd hardly consider myself a writer, but everyday my inbox is bombarded by MySpace friend requests, Facebook event invitations, and mass messages proclaiming that so-and-so is the musical incarnation of Jesus (or if it's metal, Satan). It's gotten to the point where these promotional emails are about as useful as the ones that I get that are offering me discounted Cialis. That's part of the reason that it's so very refreshing that the word "Bison" seems to be on everyone's lips in Vancouver these days. The East Side foursome is quickly ascending in popularity, but they're building up their fanbase the old fashioned way. There is no Bison mailing list, there are no fly-by-night promotional firms handling their "file," and, you know, you might consider yourself lucky if they accept your friend request. James, Brad, Masa, and Dan don't need to vie for your attention in other ways, because when it comes to Bison, the music is all the promotion they need. And that music speaks louder than an amp dialed up to eleven.

"I've done so many West Coast tours and this was, by far, the best. The crowd reaction was fantastic," says James, of the band's recent jaunt down the Pacific Coast. "We ended up picking up three or four shows along the way just from people who came to shows and hooked us up," he notes, underscoring how the good news about Bison is spreading by word of mouth.

"I really like the idea of people talking about it, and that's how it gets around. I don't want it shoved down people's throats," he continues. "I'm not gonna sell my soul for rock 'n' roll, but I want to go on tour, I want to put out albums, and I want to get drunk." It's that modest ambition that propels the band, but the resulting music is anything but unassuming.

The group's debut, Earthbound, was unleashed on the public last month, and it's a six song aural attack that blends classic metal sounds with the hardcore thrash that James helped familiarize Vancouverites with in S.T.R.E.E.T.S. When I mention his old outfit, the Bison front man let's out a bit of a groan. It's clear that the "S.T.R.E.E.T.S question" is already becoming a bit tired, but he's willing to indulge me.

"Personally, I wanted to do something that was a little more straight forward and a little bit more serious in nature. I wanted it to be louder and heavier," he says of the differences between the skate-punk sound of his past and the street-metal sound that Bison is churning out, before adding with a bit of a grin, "and I wanted something a bit slower because I'm getting really old." James isn't the only band member who should be familiar to Vancouver music fans.

"I played in Fuck Me USA in Victoria, and I was in Radio Berlin for three or four years after Josh went on to Black Mountain," notes Brad, before adding, "Dan's been playing in bands for a long time. He played in Scanners in Victoria."

"(Masa)'s a super jazz dude, and he plays a mean saxophone. And he played noise in Goatsblood. He also plays bass in Karen Foster. And he was playing in Lownote for awhile," says James of the band's bass slinger. The four members of the band bring a wealth of other experiences to the table, but these days, cranking out tunes together is priority number one.

"For me this is it. I live and breathe Bison," says James, before revealing the band's plans for the near future. "We're going to try to find someone to put (Earthbound) on vinyl. Try to go on tour again in the Spring ? a bigger tour of the US and Canada, maybe. Writing songs and probably recording within the next six months. We've been writing some new stuff. We?ll have enough for a new album by the Spring, I'd imagine." When it comes to the latter, fans can expect something a little less brief than their last offering.

"It'll be longer. I like the idea of the first record being short, because people's attention spans are really short. I don't want to make a first album that's epically long that people can't even sit through," says James. In the meantime, Bison will keep doing what they do best: flooring audiences around town with the music they love making.

"I just wanna play tunes, man. I just want to play guitar, and I want to write songs, and entertain people," exclaims James.