Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based band The Never brought environmental savvy, impressive bluegrass tones, tried-and-true rock beats and storybook fantasy to the Cat in the Cream Monday evening.  Playing to a well-attended house, the original four-member band, comprised of guitarists Noah Smith and Ari Picker, bassist Joah Tunnell and drummer Jonny Tunnell, was joined by a few guest musicians, including cellist Lindsay Ellerbe, keyboardist/pianist Adam Cullum and upright bassist Jones Smith.

It is easy to see why Billboard described their music as “top-shelf quality.”  

The eclectic group owes much of its flair to an unlikely but successful fusion of the traditionally classical cello and the building block of rock, the electric guitar. Ellerbe’s cello sings in all the right places, adding an inventive sheen to the ordinary sound of the guitar twang.  The vocals are clean and refreshing, floating on top of the ever-pulsing beat, electrifying listeners.

“The Witch” opens with a strict rhythmic chord; a persistent syncopation is layered on top.  Quickly, the music explodes to present terrifying sounds that explore a wide range of dynamics and timbre, paired with rougher taunting vocals: “Give your heart to me.” Drummer Tunnell is at his peak in this cancion.

Throaty, sexy vocals find a home in “Summer Girl/Old Man Winter,” which hits on top of smooth strings and a fairly sustained drum bass. 

The Never has been touring in a bus running on vegetable oil “copped from charitable restaurants’ throwaway bins [which has] helped them do their part in not contributing to the toxic pollution of the environment.” 

Oberlin is just one stop on The Never’s Antarctica tour; remaining scheduled dates include appearances in Greensboro, Chicago, Richmond and Brooklyn.

The album, recorded under the Trekky Records label, is full of fantasy, fifth-element sounding titles, like “Cavity,” “March of the Minion” and “Bomber Pilot.” 

Accompanying the disc is a 50-page storybook, written and illustrated by Smith. Filled to the brim with trippy images, the two pieces puzzle together a story about young Paul, who has a chance encounter with a nuclear bomb. Of course, craziness ensues; the band succeeds in capturing Paul’s adventure both musically and visually.

Although the music contains audio cues to coincide page turns in the book, the group stands behind the fact that “each of the parts of the project […] stand alone as a complete and separate work, and [can] be appreciated without the other.”

“We’re trying to capture the feeling of Antarctica…and the cello is a really versatile instrument…cello can really cover a broad range of voices and sounds,” said drummer Tunnell. “[It is] epic storytale rock.”

Any given track off Antarctica proves Tunnell’s claim correct.

The Never draws influences from past music-defining greats like David Bowie, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. 

 “You can hear some of the classical aspect of David Bowie [in our music],” said Tunnell. “And all of us are really, really into hip-hop.”

The Never welded together a number of styles to create one unique stamp, which came through in their concert, even though the spoiled-by-warm-weather-Southerners were faced with “the bitter cold, which we were not prepared for in real life, only in album,” joked Smith.