Sharon High Rock Band Pays Compliments To The Victim

Most 14-year-old boys spend their spare time texting, playing video games, and doing homework. 

The members of the band, Compliments to the Victim, do all of those things, but every Saturday they get together to do what they love most - create music.

Beginning in fifth grade, lead singer Alex Peltz and guitarist Adam Selsman began getting together to jam.  By sixth grade, they formed a band with Alex's brother Ben Peltz (bass) and Sam Pinkowitz (drums). 

Playing at cabaret shows twice a year, the band gained a loyal following among their classmates.  Most recently, they were joined by a second guitarist, Mikey Greenstein.  

A band with a rock sound, they count Soundgarden, Tool, Alice in Chains, Metallica, and Red Hot Chili Peppers as their primary influences.

One big moment in the band's history was when as eighth graders they defeated two high school bands in the Battle of the Bands at the Orpheum Theater in Foxboro.

They have also played at The Middle East in Cambridge twice, and they expect to book a show at The Hard Rock Cafe for early 2011.

"It's great to have a creative musical outlet," says Selsman, who has been taking guitar lessons since the fourth grade.

Selsman, along with Alex Peltz, writes many of the songs.  Sometimes, in a burst of creativity, the band can write up to three new songs in a matter of days.

"As someone who writes lyrics, you can get emotions across more accurately than just talking," Alex Peltz says.

Compliments to the Victim has the support of all of the parents of the band members. 

"We're their roadies," says Selsman's mother, Kara. 

Ben Peltz's bass teacher, John Saval, also pitches in, lending his expertise in songwriting and mentoring the band.  

And Sam Pinkowitz's mother, Marlane Pinkowitz, is in an all-female rock band, HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy), that has been very successful.

The foundation of the band, in addition to a love of music, is friendship. 

"A lot of guys in bands are just bandmates," Pinkowitz says.  "These guys are my best friends."

To book Compliments to the Victim or learn about their upcoming shows, go to their Facebook group, http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10150121353175338&ref=ts