Thursday March 28th 2024

The Guilloteenagers / The Dick Pics / The Knock Ups

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The Guilloteenagers / The Dick Pics / The Knock Ups
Roslindale Porch Fest    9/17/16

 

So about a month ago I promised to go to an evening benefit show on this date at Koto in Salem, Japan. Great lineup and for a great cause- Samaritans For Suicide Prevention, organized by Japanese promoter Gail Kokorhan. Then a few weeks later I saw there was a 4pm metal matinee at the Midway, my home base- so I figured I’d make it a double header.

Then on the week of these events, I got invited to a Roslindale Porch Fest, with bands I was interested in and taking place about a mile from where I live.

I knew I couldn’t pass that up, enjoying a Jamaica Plain Porchfest so much during the summer, so vowing to take it very easy on the beer today I set out on my three show journey.

This show takes place in a driveway where Matt and Camille live. Matt is the guitar/vocalist for The Guilloteenagers and Camille is the vocalist for The Dicks Pics, both playing today.
And built inside their home is a bathroom made for male, female and trans-gender folks as well- how thoughtful!

The Knock Ups are the first band to take the stage, I mean, driveway. They are a trio with songwriter Gretchen on vocals and guitar, Cat on bass and vocals and whose shoulders move and bounce to the beat, and way back towards the end of the driveway we have Daniel who plays drums keeping a very steady beat making sure the music doesn’t veer off into the sidewalk.

They describe themselves three ways: garage/punk, riot/grrl and glam punk- all pretty much on the mark.

I choose to describe them as garage/punk with well-crafted songs, good female harmonies (reminding me of The Go Go’s or Bangles, not a bad thought) with an excellent drummer. The songs are superb and have a touch of riot/grrl within them, and their bandcamp will soon be reviewed by TNB.

They lead off with two of their best tunes, “Busted” and “Glamor Girl” and later, a funny one called “Facial Hair,” which they are against. Luckily, Daniel is clean shaven.

They play a great set, the first of eleven I’ll be seeing today.

Up next is “Richard’s Photo’s”- (You see, there’s a few children around today and this is a clever reinvention of their real name The Dick Pics.) Which, of course is a great name referring to the new fad of boys sending unsolicited photo’s of their penis to girls on the Internet. I guess the whole, yelling at girls walking down the street from cars was never that successful, so the Brain Trust brewed up this new idea. (Young guys- Don’t be a dick! Try flowers instead.)

The Dick Picks are all female with Cat sticking around to play bass (as well as ukulele and mandolin.)

This is their first performance and the first number is a little rocky but shortly after they start rockin’. One of their friends makes a joke about Camille sounding like Patti Smith, but she does a bit (and that’s not a bad thought.)

One song I really like is called “On The Wagon” and I’m told it’s a cover of an L7 song. Another song has the title, “All My Friends Are Lesbians And They Don’t Want Your Dick.”
It’s about guys getting shot down and then asking if “you have a friend for me?”

About halfway through the set they switch to playing country music, which they do well and I enjoy, I just question how that’s gonna go over in clubs. But they play a fine set and end with a perfect rendition of “Psycho Killer” by The Talking Heads. I find out after the set, that one day at practice they were jamming on the song before Camille showed up and then it became part of their regular repertoire.

Now it’s time for The Guilloteenagers. I had already listened to their bandcamp and really liked it and decided to review it. (In fact, it’s going on-line the same time as this live review.)

The first thing I notice is that Ali, the drummer from the last band, is playing bass. It’s quite the incestuous affair, here today but that’s not unusual in the punk scene, I’ve found. Matt makes a big point about how he thought today would be an acoustic show but that only he is playing acoustic guitar. Then I notice he’s also playing with five foot pedals and that they start off their set with him getting some screeching feedback from his amp.

Like The Knock Up’s, him and Ali both sing, trading off lines or harmonizing.

This band plays punk that is fun, funny with a real rock’n’roll spirit which is probably why I like them so much. The Porchfest shows are pretty loose affairs, which I find charming and more authentically punk, but the drummer, Paulie, is as solid as a rock and holds it all together like super glue.

Ali’s young son Ozzy is in the crowd, Matt mentions they have a hot dog maker at their practice place which makes me want to join the band, people in the neighborhood come out of their houses and start mingling about…They do some great tunes like “Twist” and “Making Up” that are not on the latest release but the highlight for me is when they play “50 Seconds” which is on their latest, “Cheeseballs To The Wall.”

There’s a cookout about to start and I’d love to stick around but I’m overdue for my next destination, The Midway Cafe, again about a mile away. So one show, one beer down.

But The Guilloteenagers and The Dick Picks are playing my next destination on October 22nd at 4pm.

And I’m sure to be there.

And I’m sure it will be a good time just like today.

I’m looking forward to it.

You should, too.

(Slimedog)

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