Today Junior / The Rayguns / Feral Ghouls / The Lipstick Boys
Midway Cafe, Jamaica Plain MA 5/8/16
So this show happened to fall on Mother’s Day and of course, I visited my mother. Oh, right. She lives upstairs from me. I guess I visit her everyday. But my sister was also visiting along with my niece and nephew. I’m Uncle Slimedog to them, you see.
And because it was Mother’s Day we had the cards, the flowers, the festive feast of KFC that is always a gourmet delight.
But my mother expressed for a Satanic Ritual to be performed on her day so, of course, we provided for this. So, a virgin goat was sacrificed and his entrails were hung upon the curtains in the living room and kitchen. And it’s head was boiled in a vat while we recited the Satanic Bible while listening to Ozzy Osbourne records backwards.
Amongst the incense burning and the wails of the undead I believe I saw an apparition of Taylor Swift defiling a cow in the most unsavory way.
But enough of that, it’s onto a punk matinee show at the Midway!
The first band up is The Lipstick Boys. And just before they play and just as I’m getting these ugly visions of family members drenched in goat’s blood out of my head- the bass player removes his shirt to reveal he’ll be playing shirtless while wearing a bright, red bra with band pins over the nipple parts.
But once they do start playing I begin to notice what an adept bass player he is, playing lots of bass chords to fill up the space in this trio. During one guitar solo, early on in, he actually plays the bass behind his head which is utterly impressive to me, as he’s melodically holding the song together at this point.
And what’s equally impressive, besides the uttering otters, is the music these lipstick boys play. This is old-school punk, meaning- I’m thinking Dead Boys/ Dictators soon into their set. And their set is mostly high-energy punk and even when they tone it down, there’s some nice grunge/dissonance poking it’s head in.
For me they’re a great start of the day (though I’m still trying to forget the picture of my mother, sensually stroking goat entrails against her bosom.)
Feral Ghouls are the next band and are a trio, also. I notice on their facebook they describe themselves as “Americana Hardcore Punk,” but I think this might be just a little ha-ha.
They have an amazing guitarist who does some fancy fingering but isn’t afraid to wail hard with Johnny Ramone like chord playing. A bassist who sings most of the leads in a screaming, almost black metal voice and during one song, that the guitarist sings, answers in a vocal that makes me think of Ian MacKaye (Minor Threat)- a very good thought, indeed. And a drummer who’s hard hitting and very able in keeping it all together.
Some of their songs are kind of hardcore explosions, others long and jammy but not in a self-indulgent way.
This is a band I’m lost in how to describe but, I like that. And I do know, I very much like this band. I’m predicting this band will be my favorite of the day. And looking back on it, I was right.
The Rayguns are next and this is loud, high-energy garage punk. This is highly enjoyable with two guitarists who share the lead singing.
But my favorite part of the band is the drummer. He is now known to me as “the man who can’t relax.” I don’t know of any other drummer who exerts as much energy as when he plays. Proof of this is that he has to rearrange his drum set after every song as they’re pushed, during songs, all across the stage.
This is nowhere near hardcore, this is more an eighties definition of punk- when garage, pop and aggressive, energetic music came together. And today, this band is loads of fun!
And today, Today Junior is the last band to play. They describe themselves as “raw indie dance rock” which sounds pretty lame to me.
And thought their guitar player is a bit subdued and jangly at times, the rhythm of the songs suggest upbeat surf to me. Especially with the drummer frequently hitting his snare twice on the second beat along with a cymbal ride.
I would call this band surf/punk and I’m thinking their definition of what they play might be a little ha-ha, as well.
I didn’t enjoy them as much as the previous bands but still a fun, well-played set.
So with a day that started out as a debauched, depraved, unsettling display of family traditions gone astray, it actually did a three-sixty and turned into a late afternoon of good, wholesome punk music with nary a bloody goat entrail to speak of.
And I would be amiss if I didn’t mention who organized this show. Why, it’s Public Alley Records which appears to be run by the bassist of The Rayguns and you can check them out here:
https://publicalleyrecords.bandcamp.com/
These were all new bands for me today. And as Andy Bang recently said, “It’s always nice to see some new blood.” And I’m one to agree, that is as long as it doesn’t include goat entrails.
(Slimedog)
