The Radicals / Poor Posture / The Chandeliers / Cult Fluorescent
Theives Grotto, Allston, MA 2/1/14
It was a Friday night in Boston and there were only two options of what to do: stay inside or go to an ambient techno show and I’d be damned if I was going to do either. So as I sat outside, wondering how there were no punk shows taking place in the whole city, I happened upon a friend who was on the way to a show. Expecting to be disappointed with his answer, I asked what kind of music it was, and he answered, “some punk shit.” Long story short I wasn’t disappointed.
We arrived at Thieves to see Cult Fluorescent setting up, he had a bass, too many pedals to count, a laptop, a keyboard, and a looper. His setup was weird, his music weirder (I can’t even come up with a genre) , but an awesome experience none the less.
Next the Chandeliers took the stage, or more accurately the floor. They are three piece from Allston who play a mix of punk influenced indie rock or indie influenced punk rock, its hard to tell. They sound like if some punk kids beat up Vampire Weekend and stole their instruments and threw their boat shoes onto a telephone line. Their set was solid and they are all quite talented, however, unlike the punk bands to follow, they sound better recorded, so check out their bandcamp and their new L.P. when it drops.
By this time of the night, everyone had finished their hard won booze and with the risk of spilling a drop of a 40oz gone, the whole crowd was ready to go ballistic. The house band, Poor Posture, granted everyone’s wish with a trip to Garage Land, or more accurately garage punk land. They played hard, they played fast, and everyone in the pit went hard and fast too, forming the beautiful symbiotic relationship we in the business of writing shit on websites for fun call a basement show (see I could’ve been a bio major if I didn’t screw smart school and go to art school). They left the stage with the rug below the pit thoroughly bunched up and covered in sweat, both signs of a good set. They also, on inspection of their bandcamp, have a self-titled song which I love in a band in the same way I love insanity in a woman: for no explainable reason (but it is the truth).
After the mass exodus known as the set-break smoke-break ended, The Radicals took the stage. This band, who I hear from Jim is trying to destroy our beautiful, patriotic, christian, American lives of 2.5 boy scout children living behind a white picket fence, is seen frequently on the pages of TNB (which I think stands for Tits n Beer or maybe Tubas n Buffalos), but I had never seen them before. They basically took every genre of punk put it in a blender and added growled and group vocals as a straw for their anti-society smoothie. Like all the bands, except for Poor Posture, who record all their stuff in the basement the show took place in, The Radicals horrid anti-american, amber wave of grain burning lyrics are much clearer recorded, their set was kick-ass. They ended the night with a cover of Tubthumping, an awesome, sure-fire to get people to sing along as they jump around and try to avoid the pipes hanging from the ceiling.
Thieves Grotto is a great basement venue, well actually I shouldn’t say great as all basement venues that don’t get busted are great. It deserves the higher praise of being added to Sam’s list of Shit thats Fuckin Metal just below nature and above swords. Its metal (despite the lack of metal music) not just because of the bands or atmosphere but because any place allowing trades of “1 cigarette (no menthol)” for a button has the only kind of economy I’m willing to support.
(Sam Malabre)
