Sick Joke / Throw The Goat / Rictus Grin / Destroi
Club Bohemia, Cambridge, MA 4/29/17
Club Bohemia, which is the downstairs of the best dive bar in Cambridge, the Cantab Lounge, is a place I seldom frequent.
Which I think is a shame because this is an inviting place and the devil knows our evil music is always looking for a welcome place, another decadent den of vice and pleasure, one that accepts our musical sins.
It reminds me most of The Rat as I descend downstairs into a dark, dank dungeon. And it appears to me, it’s probably not the hardest place to book a date as they have all different types of original music that play here.
So bands, promoters- check it out- I beseech thee.
Right now, I’m checking out DestrOi, the young Oi band from Salem, for the second time this week. And as they are one of my favorite bands, I’m far from complaining. Their style is high-energy, hardcore fueled Oi that ignites and incites wild fun, whenever or wherever they play.
They start off with a great, new song, I think it’s called “Last Shot,” but what I am sure of is they have a brand new seven-inch split with a California Oi band- Defected Drones, which I bet is great.
After their first song, some girls from the bar yell out, “The bartender likes you,” towards the band.
I think that’s pretty grand as I notice that he is more towards my age, that is, until I notice he is by far the drunkest person in the bar.
I mean, manning the pen for TNB, one is allowed, even encouraged to be intoxicated on the job. But some jobs, like air traffic controller and dishing out drinks to drunks takes more precise precision.
Anyways, DestrOi rips it up, tares it up with a lot of emotion and guts displaying what makes the best punk, Oi and rock’n’roll so valuable. They capture the spirit of Oi without trying to painstakingly replicate it’s sound and succeed wonderfully.
Rictus Grin is up next and I’m really excited about finally seeing them for the first time. I’ve reviewed a couple of their releases and really enjoyed their wild/ drunk/ queer/ punk/ pogo/ Oi songs.
And just earlier this week I was most impressed seeing the new band CAC or (Crime Alley Cretins) and hearing their great recording. CAC is an off-shoot of Rictus Grin with the drummer and guitarist doing the old “switcher-oo” in CAC.
Here, we have the guitarist on drums and two, tall bald fellows with eye make-up on, on the stringed instruments. And the explosive, spitfire of a singer, Alecks, as the front woman.
This band is as fun and crazy as CAC. And when you read this review, the review of the new Rictus Grin EP will be on-line, also. Tonight their propulsive rhythm changes, simple guitar lines escalating to short-circuited, high wire noise excursions and hardcore intense vocals stuffed down your ears till your brains shoot out your nose, leads to an exciting, death defying, blistering set. They end with a cover that Dave, the drummer from DestrOi tells me, is a song by a Japanese Oi band called Beer Belly.
I just wish all my weeks involved seeing CAC and Rictus Grin and DestrOi live, all highly recommended if you get the chance.
Next on stage is a touring band from California called Throw The Goat. I’m hesitant in seeing them as on their facebook there’s some mention of “stoner rock” something I’m definitely not a fan of. But once they play their other mention of heavy rock becomes more evident.
This is a tight, energetic rock band with traditional vocals that wouldn’t mix well with the current metal scene, what with their lack of death vocals and hardcore influences. So, though they are far from being punk, they are not a whole way off from being compared to Motorhead.
My friend, Sam, tells me they sound a lot better live than their bandcamp.
All I know is the soundman has turned on some light machine that causes multi-colored dots to appear on people in front of the stage, leaving me wondering if the drunk bartender put something extra in my Jameson.
This band plays a damn good set, more thrash than stoner, methinks, very groove orientated. Maybe it’s groove metal? I don’t know- you’ll have to ask metal expert Andy Bang that question.
Sick Joke is the last band to play, who I know as the regrouping of the Enemy Within, a few years back when Andy and I considered them the best Boston based heavy hardcore band. Their drummer “Metal” Mike was the former drummer for Blood For Blood and that heavy, metal influenced, New York hardcore vibe still thrives in the music of this band.
But new singer, Aaron, adds a touch of traditional punk in the vocals and lyrics giving it a different but rewarding spin. They start out with their song “Self-Destructive,” then play a great new tune “Disgrace.” They end their powerful, intense set with a favorite of mine, “Scraping By,” to top of a night of excellent bands with all different styles.
Afterwards, I’m talking with Nate, the singer for DestrOi, and I mention how much I like Oi bands because of the connection with early punk. And I like punk because, to me anyways, it’s connection to fifties rock’n’roll.
I tell him I feel punk was the real extension of rock’n’roll not rock music. And how I don’t like much rock music.
And he says, “To me most rock has no soul to it, no feeling.” And to him punk and Oi does.
These bands tonight made me feel. They pulled no punches. They weren’t bullshit and actually, they made me feel pretty good.
But that’s what rock’n’roll music does to me, in fact, punk and Oi does that to me, too.
It makes me happy and that’s not a bad way to feel.
(Slimedog)
