OC45 / The Radicals / A Minor Revolution / Union Boys
The Cryptics / Crystal Methodist / Senzu / Red Tape / Wet Dress / Rice Crackers
Midway Cafe, Jamaica Plain MA and
The Workshop, Quincy MA 11/22/14
I’ve got two shows and nine bands to review so don’t give me any shit. True, I’m getting paid time and a half but, as Billy Preston once sang, “Nothing from nothing is nothing.” I’ve got no time to be funny. What’s that? You say you must of missed the one review where I was? Now you, no good- I’ll carve your liver out with a rusty fork!
Rice Crackers is the first band this warm, sultry afternoon at the Midway. This band is crackers!
They have two teeny-tiny girls who look related and about fourteen, a young black drummer with an Afro who looks likes kids looked like when I was fourteen. And a young chap in a Hawaiian shirt
Besides the interesting way they look they play some interesting music. I’m getting a more new wave vibe from this band, but the good kind and there’s some punk spirit in there too with some swearing and spite.
I find out they’re all Berklee students but I have no prejudice against that, though I feel these guys must be outcasts at school. They turn in a set I find confusing, intriguing and very good.
Wet Dress is next and two man bands have never done anything for me (Seals & Croft, Loggins & Messina, Captain & Tenille and White Stripes).
They start with a Link Wray cover which is a top notch choice, I think, but when you have a boy guitarist and girl drummer who both sing but neither is exceptional on their instruments- well, I think it’s time to recruit more friends, my friends.
Red Tape is next. Along with the BarRoom Heroes they are my favorite local young bands. They’re from Western Mass and mix early punk influences with shifts in time and tempo and have some great songs. They also have an excellent drummer who I find out today is going to Berklee.
I ask the guitarist about a song after the set and find out it’s by Beck. “It’s different from the original though, right?” “Oh, yeah,” he says. Proficient, powerful and quirky is how this band rolls, that’s once you get through the red tape.
Senzu is next to play. Seems like they’re from Western Mass also, being friends with Red Tape. This is very intense, brooding music that falls into the realm of hardcore but also slips into the experimental music genre at times.
Not as exciting or fun as Red Tape but effective at what they do.
Now, Crystal Methodist is next and this is a band I’ve seen before and really enjoyed. And their CD is cool, also. Their songs are hardcore but more accurately- short bursts of anger and energy.
Their sets seem to come and go in a flash! I timed this is one. It clocked eleven minutes!
But I take them over most bands sets three times as long. I don’t do drugs or practice religion but these guys I’m addicted to and they make a true believer out of me.
The Cryptics are next to take this matinee show out, this is a band from New Hampshire I’ve seen before and have high energy music that is influenced by the early punk scene. This is straight ahead punk with some punk/pop and hardcore elements and they turn in their usual fun and lively set.
Well, now it’s time for me to wrap up another Midway matinee show…What? There’s another show at The Workshop in Quincy? Let’s strap on the rocket jets and go!
The Union Boys are the first band to go on. These guys are the bad boys of Boston punk. I haven’t seen them for quite some time and they have a great new album recently released.
I think of them as more a scruffy, rock’n’roll band than a pure punk band- more like The Faces or early Stones. They have fun, rowdy songs and turn in, surprisingly enough, a fun, rowdy set.
A Minor Revolution is next, a band who I have seen once or twice before. Their style is a mix of pop/punk and ska and they do a nice cover of “Safe European Home” by The Clash. They also have a sax player which makes them a bit different.
But there style is not one of my favorites but if you like the ska/punk you should check them out.
Now, it’s time for a band who’s style I really like. The Radicals take the stage…Oh, wait. There is no stage. Okay, they take their spot on the floor.
What The Radicals play is sixties political music about overthrowing the government and is highly inspired, as it is the sixties, by The Grateful Dead and Crosby, Stills and Nash.
Wait, that’s wrong, cross that out. Must be thinking of The Pity Whores.
What they really play is hyperactive pop/punk with a hardcore influence. They’re a fun, lively trio that is always a pleasure to watch. They do a lot of songs off their fine new album but end it with their fatalistic song, “Six Feet Underground” which come to think of it- here in the basement we’re probably more than that. Great set by one of Boston’s best bands.
This is OC45’s welcome back show after yet, another one of their nationwide tours. This last tour was their most successful to date, hooking up with The Koffin Kats for several West Coast gigs.
Tonight they lead of with my favorite song by them, “Waiting For A Bullet,” which I remember being second in their set list before they left. Adam, one of the singer/guitarists confirm that shortly into the tour they made the switch.
I’ve gone on about how good and dedicated the band is but let me relay that one of the scenes best promoters is predicting that this band will break out in a big way soon. All I can say is I hope he’s right and they deserve it.
They’re really tight after playing so many shows. They play lots of encores and it’s probably the best I’ve heard them.
Unfortunately, there is no encore for The Workshop. This will be the last live review coming from there. Police got wind of it, showed up at the next show and closed it down. And now the police will be watching.
But thanks to Mike for allowing so many great shows to happen in such a short time. And I feel confident other places will rise up, and there’s quite a few underground places going on now.
The underground shows are important because they’re some of the only ones open to our underage crew and the only ones that reflect our true, underground nature- away from the pack, outside society’s rules, D.I.Y., making your own rules and judgments.
It’s what punk is all about. Anyone can do it. Start your underground space/place today.
(Slimedog)
