The Radicals / Loser’s Circle / Live Nude Girls / Mark Lind
The Damn Garrison / Blastmat / Working Poor USA
Midway Cafe, Jamaica Plain, MA 3/14/15 & 3/15/15
Today’s review is going to encompass two days, two shows into one review. This will show that every second, every thought, every moment, every stick of chewing gum is connected to the next in the ongoing universal vibe of mankind and eternity.
‘Cause not only is all of time and man connected but we are connected also to the leaves and the hippopotamus’s and the butterflies and the postage stamps and the used condoms in the brook under the bridge where the teenagers go to have sex while their parents think they’re studying at the library.
First up is Mark Lind who you probably know from the Ducky Boys and right now has a pretty spiffy pop/punk band The Warning Shots that’s making the kids bop to the sounds at the soda fountains. He shares a lot of self-deprecating remarks in-between songs like the one about Joe Strummer watching an old band of his in disgust and then walking away.
He does a Replacement cover and does it well no matter what he says. His style, at his best, can stand side by side along with Paul Westerberg. Mark ends the set with my favorite song he wrote,”Feeling Alive” . It has the line, “We all fall down sometimes/ But to get up takes -some time.” I had to look up the title but remembered the line if you can believe that.
I believe Mark is a talented singer and songwriter and this is a great way to start my two day punk bender off right. Oh, and this is Gina from Dying Scene’s birthday party BTW!
Next is Live Nude Girls and Andy has his camera out ready to take pictures. But instead of a strip act this is a three person folk/pop band with lots of connections to the punk scene.
They are comprised of two women, C.E. who plays acoustic guitar and sings much better than any singer of the bands I’m accustomed to seeing; the bodacious and beguiling C.J. who fiddles around with her fiddle and Aria, who plays bass and sings and is somewhat male.
To me punk is more an attitude or philosophy than a musical style so I’m not quite sure if they’re punk. I do find them an enjoyable respite from the usual clamor. I have the feeling they’re gonna play other scenes, but for me, I’m happy to have them here.
They end with a great version of The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” with great vocals and the fiddle soaring in- which is just like heaven, indeed.
Loser’s Circle is next and lo and behold- it’s Matt on drums. He is the scene’s drummer on call. He’s in The Radicals but I’ve also seen him play with The Pity Whores, OC45, Jason Bennett, Miley Cyrus just too many to mention, but I do believe he’s permanent in this band as well.
Loser’s Circle was formed by former members of Refuse Resist so even though they play in a more pop/punk style they play with more grit and passion then most bands of their new style.
They do a song towards the end of the set that has bassist/singer Jaime putting a high falsetto at the end of the line that makes me think of “Werewolves Of London.” I don’t know if this is a new song but it’s excellent and an excellent set played as well.
The Radicals are next which has Aria coming back to play and Matt hanging on drums. I think, at other genre’s shows they share “back-line” or instruments which they do here, also, but in punk they share members as well!
The Radicals could be called a pop/punk outfit but actually exude more energy than a lot of hardcore bands. And they’ve grown to become one of the best live acts we see, putting on the types of show The Pity Whores play, a band they perform with frequently.
They end with their fatalistic song “Six Feet Underground” and turn in a high energy, spirited set.
The end.
(But don’t go away- another show is about to begin.)
Well, I’ve come up from the basement to enjoy another show. I was a bit cold draped around the water heater last night, you see, it’s the warmest spot. I drank the dregs of the kegs down there. I have little cups lined up beneath the kegs and enjoyed some cheese with the rats. But rise and shine- it’s another matinee at the Midway!
Working Poor USA is up first. This is a new band from Cape Cod led by one of the Antibodies. The Antibodies were always known by us as the best hardcore band from there before the uprising of Fast Times.
Hearing this band today I’m picturing them more Oi than hardcore. The lyrics are socially conscious and mostly concerned with the working man. I do know they have some great songs and this was a great way to start the day off right.
Blastmat I’ve seen before and know them to be a good band. How can they not be with Gerry from Bad Lieutenants on bass and Joe from Forced Reality on drums. And they are from Connecticut and you know how we love bands from there.
Listening to the band I hear hints of hardcore, a bit of Oi, parts of hard rock all melding into one powerful, passionate sound.
This is a band comprised of people with different influences but instead of some being hidden they all seem to contribute to a rockin’, heavy, energetic total.
Gerry’s heavy bass lines, Joe’s perfect Oi drumming (one of the best drummer’s we know), Ryan with his younger, hardcore influenced vocals and Andy on guitar ably complementing any style thrown his way, I can’t help thinking of them as Iggy & The Stooges as a hardcore band.
Anyway, I expected a good set- I didn’t expect to be blown away. Best set of the year I’ve seen so far.
The Damn Garrison is the last band to play on my two day review. I know them to be the best, purest Oi band that we cover.
Unfortunately, they’ve recently lost their singer and the fellow filling in today is mostly reading lyrics from pieces of paper.
This is not the best I’ve seen them but they do a good, short set and I have hope they’ll be better. And I have hope that Ritchie, their guitarist, will do better as well now he’s back on the right track. And I was glad to see his girlfriend, Julia, my favorite friend from New Hampshire- keeper of lizards, snakes and all creepy, crawly things.
And if you think that everything is the music- well, music comes from individuals and their lives and their feelings, their attributes and their mistakes. And life is not so clear as the pop songs on the radio or the movies from Hollywood.
Punk is rife with guts and passions and stories that might not fit in Hollywood but is more than valid and courageous and telling here. And whether it’s Ritchie’s story or Keith’s story or mine, a lot of us have been there, have been there at times when life has left us a bit adrift.
“We all fall down sometimes. But getting up takes- some time.”
(Slimedog)
