Sloppy Seconds / The Pity Whores / Dot Rats / Duck & Cover
Middle East (Up), Cambridge, MA 6/23/14
I’m at the Middle East Up. I don’t like to go here. No place to sit and I can’t stand standing too long. Also, I like a real bar, with a long wooded area to place drinks and stools. The one and a half fake bars here don’t count. Nice big sound system- too bad it’s too powerful for a small place and the sound usually sucks.
But it’s a great lineup and that’s why I’m here- let the good times roll!
Duck & Cover start the night off led by Chris Brat from The Black Cheers, usually he’s a sideman but he’s the front man here.
This band does a mix of garage/rock with pop/punk and a dash of glam rock thrown in as well. They have a great rhythm section with a drummer who knows how to play the beats of Boston punk, eighties style and a bass player who knows how to put some guts, some rock’n’roll punch, into his playing much like John Doe of X or Pete Farndon of The Pretenders. (And unlike ninety-nine percent of bass players I hear today).
And a lead singer who knows how to sing melodically but also with passion and grit. And with the total equation you get a great band and a band that play a set that sets the night off right!
Dots Rats are next and I take notice that I like them better each time I see them. They have two lead singers and play hardcore that is definitely influenced by rap.
That’s not usually my thing but what really appeals to me is their attitude because I feel it’s totally “punk rock” in that they have their own style and they don’t care what anybody thinks about it. And they have a concept, a theme, too. Almost all their songs are about living in “the hood”- Dorchester, that’s where their name Dot Rats comes from, a kind of derogatory name for people from Dorchester.
I think this is the best I’ve seen them and I’m sure I’ll see them again and I suggest you should, too!
The Pity Whores are next. These despicable, disposable, diaper donning, diabolical, disgraced mongol marauders of Mongolia with their mealy mouthed, malicious mayhem revolt me!
Though I dislike them more personally each time I meet them, as any self-respecting or self-pleasuring member of society should; I have to tip my non-existent hat to their splendid mix of pop/punk, hardcore and garage bam-a-lam.
They play a great set starting with a medley of their hits (all number one in Mongolia) and keep the energy going at a fever pitch.
At one point Wimpy from The Jabbers hops up to do a song and I mistake him for Chris from Gang Green, but there’s no mistaking that the Pity Whores bring a mighty, hearty heap of good punk rock fun to the table every time.
Sloppy Seconds is the headlining band and I was unaware of them until this show. They’re a Ramones influenced humorous band from Indianapolis, Indiana and go back to 1984.
The singer is a sight to behold as he strikes me as an old retired wrestler. He’s got a full, gray shag haircut and a bit of flab hanging out of his sleeveless t-shirt.
But when they start playing, him and the band certainly deliver the goods.
This is funny, fun traditional punk. This is music that is yelping, high energy, hilarious entertainment. This band is a combination of The Ramones, The Buzzcocks and The Angry Samoans with maybe a little Johnny Thunders thrown in on the guitar. It’s the type of music I grew up with and probably my favorite type of punk.
They have “hits” (only in Mongolia) like “I Don’t Want To Be A Homosexual,” about how his mother thinks it would be so hip to have a gay son. “Lesbians Don’t Like Me”- lyric: “I love lesbians more than anyone/ So why don’t lesbians love me?” The last song sung in perfect Buzzcocks pop/punk style.
Probably the most serious they get is “You Can’t Kill Joey Ramone” a sentimental tribute to him and they continue to play a great set ending with an encore of the Sex Pistols “No Feelings.”
Though I abhor this place I appreciate that they are a venue that supports punk shows and though this is a Monday night it beats out a lot of Saturday nights for sure.
And I’d love to see this band again. I can’t wait for some sloppy seconds!
(Slimedog)
