Urban Waste / No Tox / Live Fast Die Fast / Tensor / Go Blank
Midway Cafe, Jamaica Plain, MA 4/5/14
“Sometimes I think I’m so over the whole punk rock thing and other times it’s the only thing I want to hear, the only thing that saves me.”
That’s a quote from a girl who follows the scene. Though it doesn’t fit me- I’m always up for it- I think it’s a pretty neat line. Today looks like a pretty good line-up but as they say, “Don’t expect anything out of life and you’ll never be disappointed,”- ha, ha.
Go Blank is the first band I hear today as I step into the club. My earplugs already planted in my head because of hearing the music blaring while walking from the parking lot. I dispense my beverages to Jill, the drink dominatrix, and T.J., the Sound God, and realize I’m stepping into my favorite minutes of the week. It’s like a jolt of adrenaline shooting up my spine.
Go Blank sounds like a fine band to head up today’s festivities. They are a traditional punk and pop/punk trio that also allow traces of reggae and ska into their music. It’s too early now for them to get much of a response but the crowd seems to like them. They do a good job on setting the show on a good course.
Tensor is next to hit the stage and though I’ve enjoyed them many times before, today they’re a little different. Yeah, they’re very loud but they’re very good at the same time. Blistering, intense skate punk is the style, occasionally mixed with AC/DC like hard rock. One song in particular, where the drums keep a steady thumping beat by themselves, until a few chords slash in here and there is very effective.
I do notice they have Ian from S.F.O. on bass and the drummer from Get The Fear, two expired bands, in the new line-up. This is the best I’ve heard Tensor and if this is the best set today it won’t be a disappointing show.
Live Fast Die Fast is next and they are still our favorite punk/hardcore band from New York. I like how before the set, Paul, the singer, mentioned that, “This is still the only place we’ve played in Boston.” And I said, “Well there really is no better place to play than here.”
Besides leading a set that displays great New York hardcore with a slightly less heavy vibe, Paul is always eloquent in expressing his bands feelings and the scene as well. Today he had some kind words for Boston’s recently fallen Firefighters.
And today they have Jamie filling in on bass, ex- Refuse Resist and currently with Losers Circle. Before the set, I joked about calling them “Live Fast Refuse To Die” or Live Fast Losers Die.” Jamie lends an impeccable performance to their set. Towards the end when they play the song with the words, “We are hardcore, hardcore united.” I realize they are the perfect melding of the sound, style and substance of hardcore. And that is why they are one of the best bands on our site.
I had no idea what to expect from No Tox except I knew there was a connection with the band Toxic Narcotic. This band is a trio and I do recognize Will Sullivan from the excellent band For The Worse.
I don’t know what I was expecting but I didn’t expect to be blown away, out through the door, down the street and finally caught up in some telephone wires strung across the road.
I guess this is a new band and this is one of their first shows, but you would never guess it as this is the tightest set of the day and maybe the year. Having a drummer, Sam Jodrey, with superhuman abilities is always a plus. He dominates the songs with his perfect precision playing and can play as fast as you want. There may be a drummer that is of equal skill as this guy in town, but if you think there is then you believe in impossibility.
But the whole band is great with great short hardcore songs. I predict this band is gonna be very well known in a short time.
Urban Waste is the headliner as they deserve to be, going back to early eighties New York hardcore. They frequently play Boston and Providence and I’ve seen them several times now and they seem to improve and get more enjoyable each time I see them.
With a dread-locked black singer, Asian female bassist, a skinny, nerdy white guitarist and a drummer who looks like an Oi guy with his bald head and red suspenders this is a perfect collage of different hardcore types.
But visuals aside they sound amazing. The set just builds overflowing with passion; they keep the energy going and the pit flowing. They end with a cover of “Commando” by The Ramones and then a cover of “Sonic Reducer” by The Dead Boys two old CBGB’s bands- excellent set.
Sometime towards the end of the day I’m talking with the girl who made the earlier quote. I’m talking about how inspiring the young people from bands and fans are to me, just like the young artists at Mass Art where I work. I say how I know I won’t be around in a few decades but I don’t care because what I’ve cared about, what’s important to me- music, art, literature- will be around. The spirit of it all lives on and will continue to live on. And I start blubbering (crying) but I’m not ashamed. You see, I’m a sissy- I love music, art and literature; not so much monster trucks, power tools and cars.
I must admit, it’s shows like this I’ll miss the most. Where the energy just builds and builds and bands and fans are swept up in a fury of joy. And I’ll continue. Life’s gotta pull me away from all this. Gotta pry my hands away from the glass. Gotta block my ears from the sounds. Gotta stop the sides of my mouth from sliding up into a grin. I won’t give up easy. Good luck, life, in trying. “I will not go quiet into the night.”
(Slimedog)
