Soundoff / The Money$ / Cynic Kids / Working Poor USA
Midway Cafe, Jamaica Plain, MA 8/3/14
I got here late today. I saw the Street Dogs here last night. I also saw too many shots of whiskey pass my lips as well. But I arrive in time to catch a few songs from the first band.
I notice the singer is from the great, Cape Cod hardcore band- Antibodies. They’re one of the best hardcore bands from the Cape.
And in what little I observe, this band seems to bring the hardcore fury along with the punk passion also. This is a top notch, top shelf band.
Oh, you need their name? Working Poor USA.
The next band remarks they traveled a bit to get here. This band is not hardcore but definitely punk.
You could classify them as skate punk, which I really like. Their set is energetic, fun and it does not surprise me a bit when I glance downwards and notice, I have, in fact, loss control of my bodily functions. Not sure where they’re from but I can report their name- Cynic Kids.
The Money$ is next. They have two lead singers, both on guitar and bass. They have a drummer that deals out double bass drum beats like a lot of metal drummers like to do. The vocalist, both of them, scream throughout the songs.
I have no clue where this band is coming from. Are they metal- punk- hardcore?
Their music doesn’t resonate with me but check them out because, perhaps it will with you.
Soundoff is the last band to play today. I’m looking forward to hearing them because I remember reviewing their CD from a couple of years ago. And one of their songs, “901” was one of my favorites of that year.
But this is the first time, I believe, I’m seeing them live. They’re a Providence band who do the pop’/punk style quite well. I feel they’d fit well with the other top local bands of that genre- OC45, The Down & Outs.
They would hold their own quite well and you should, “always hold your own and not the one urinating next to you in the mens room,”- Oscar Wilde.
But I digress. They play a fun, affable set. Their drummer reminds me of Clem Burke, from Blondie in his solid finesse. They play a couple of covers at the end. “You Gotta Fight (For You’re Right To Party)” by the Beastie Boys and the theme from The Little Mermaid when a little girl with her mom peaks timidly in the door.
This band plays pure, pop punk at it’s finest.
This was another New Blood Showcase by Jay Genoa where he spotlights new bands and then drains their blood to turn them into zombie sex slaves. But at least the music showcase part is admirable.
Last night, here at the Midway, I saw a sold out show with the Street Dogs playing. The next afternoon at the same place I see a show with maybe ten or twenty folks.
I guess you would say last night was more exciting and more meaningful, an important representation of the community and what it stands for, in a way.
But I tend to think the small shows, the up and coming bands are more representative, are more the heart of what punk is and what punk’s supposed to be.
Our music was and is, never meant to be the golden child. Our music was and is, destined to be the black sheep of the family.
Our community is full of misfits, rejects, non-joiners joining together to form a community of those who do not conform, who do not join anything. Who do not want to be a part of something but choose to stand apart.
But we are also a scene with hearts of gold. With more passion, guts and power than any other music scene can begin to dream or hope for.
And I believe this more than anything.
And that’s mighty fine, by me.
(Slimedog)
