Slitstitch / Bad Movies / Pity Whores / Cry Havoc / Notox / Traces Of Empire / The Down & Outs / Insidious
Midway Cafe, Jamaica Plain & Cantab Lounge, Cambridge MA 7/12/14
So I have eight bands from two shows to review so I’m not gonna mince words; I’m gonna get right to it!
The first show is a Saturday matinee. It’s the first time I’m attending one here and what a mighty, fine lineup it has.
Insidious is the first band. I’ve seen them a couple of times now and they are certainly one of the youngest bands on our site.
The musicians, a trio, are all seventeen and the singer slightly older. They’re from New Hampshire and do intense hardcore that is short bursts of energy in fairly short songs.
They’re not like the heavy hardcore bands- more experimental than metal in their style. They usually lead off shows and like the others I’ve seen that they’ve done, they lead off well; this is a very promising band.
The Down & Outs are next and I haven’t seen them for so long I’d wondered if they still existed. It’s been so long that the last time I saw them the singer, who I remembered having rather long hair, now has a small, bright green Mohawk.
But what hasn’t changed for this Providence band is that they still deliver the goods. Excellent songs with energetic performances- they do like to bounce around a bit, makes them one of the best pop/punk bands on our site. They play a great set and I hope it’s not so long till I get to see them again.
Traces Of Empire are next and I must admit I don’t get this band. They have elements of punk, metal and hardcore in their music but don’t seem to settle anywhere that I could describe.
The guitars are very metal, the vocals aren’t really hardcore, are they an experimental band that I’m not getting?
But check them out, maybe you’ll understand them and like them.
The next band I have no reservation in recommending as I feel they are one of the best hardcore bands in Boston right now.
They are Notox, recently formed from the remnants of Toxic Narcotic, and they take no prisoners in their intense, impeccably played, incendiary hardcore.
Very “Crust” in their sound with their anti-establishment lyrics; crushing, propulsive music and an occasional metal solo flying in, these guys, in no surprise will eventually, win the set of the day for me.
Last up is one our favorite bands from Connecticut which is saying a lot because that state has produced most of our favorite bands on our site.
They are Cry Havoc and they play hardcore with certain progressive elements but they never let these fancy pants parts subtract one ounce of passion, energy or guts from the songs.
Right before the set I tell the singer, Johnny, to be careful with the microphone but he did not heed my words, surprisingly enough. After a few songs he smashes the mike several times into his forehead during a song until a slightly bleeding wound appears.
But he is one of the most energetic, exciting front men on our site. I put him along side Jay Genoa as most reminding me of my favorite front man of all time, Iggy Pop. They don’t try to copy him they just have the most physical presentation locally that I’ve witnessed.
And this is the end of another great show. But wait! The day is not over. I’m off the Cambridge, Central Square for a show at the Cantab Lounge.
The Cantab Lounge is a nice, funky dive but where the occasional punk shows go on is downstairs in a place called Club Bohemia. It’s actually a pretty cool place and I would suggest to bands to look into playing here.
I arrive early and there seems to be the tail end of a bachelorette party going on. Linn, the copper haired Mohawk wearing singer from Bad Movies, is having her picture taken with middle aged ladies who are intrigued by her look. And it seems one of the bands has dropped off so we are down to three for tonight’s performance.
The Pity Whores are first to play. This is the most disgusting, disturbing, discombobulated band in existence. These malicious, misshapen miscreants are so bad that even Mongolia deported them as undesirables.
But they do usually play the most fun music that combines jungle rhythms, pop/punk propulsion and hardcore passion that always turns into a great fun time. And tonight is no exception.
An exceptionally well played set by an exceptionally repulsive group of individuals you will ever witness in your life is a set by The Pity Whores.
Bad Movies is next, one of my favorite bands on our site and one of true punk bands in my mind. They play in a traditional punk style that is closer to early L.A. Punk than the heavy hardcore of today. Led by the aforementioned Linn, channeling the spirit of Wendy O. Williams of The Plasmatics but with a better voice, this band has great songs and a kind of hit and miss variable live on how each song turns out.
But if you want to see great musicianship check out some funk or jazz. If you want some music that is real and reflects life in a true and honest way and has more passion and guts than anything in real life- well, buy a ticket to Bad Movies!
Slitstitch is on last to take it out. This is the second time I’ve seen them and with this performance I look forward to seeing them again.
I saw them recently at a sparsely attended show at the Midway and thought they were good but tonight they’re a hundred times better.
This is gravelly voiced punk’n’roll with a little country, walking bass lines and such sprinkled in but the final outcome is always intense, passionate punk. This is not your run of the mill hardcore band or a band that plays punk by the numbers- this is the real thing.
I have to head home now. My eardrums and membranes have been shot. I’m not so drunk on the alcohol but on the punk in my system today.
Great bands, great people, great times- It’s a reason to live!
(Slimedog)
