Overhearing is the best way to find your way to punk shows in Allston. Yesterday at work, a friend of mine in a band came in and was speaking about how he was super excited to be playing a show with this band called The Transgressions based out of Madison, Wisconsin. I, excited by the prospect of a real punk basement show, quickly asked him where it was, got the address, and made plans with other friends of mine to be in attendance.
The show was packed, filled to the brim with dirty punks of all varieties. I got there just as The Credentials (of Boston, MA) were taking the stage playing songs from their newest album (a 7" Split with The Transgressions"), started going completely crazy. The Credential's sound is riffing off of the classic Screeching Weasel pop-punk that was so iconic to me in my younger years when I was first getting into punk rock. Zack's catchy guitar and Tom's fast paced drums make this band extremely danceable and listenable. The newest song(available on myspace)that I think is indicative of their own talent as a pop-punk band with a more raw sound is Nametags & Hairnets--a highly energetic thrasher of a song that takes over the whole room. Jack and Zack's voices with their more-aggressive less-polished gravely edge really makes the sound complete, in my opinion. I mean seriously, listening to these guys had me going crazy in the back. It's almost impossible to not dance to their music. Similarly, they are celebrating an interview in Maximum Rock and Roll--quite a step towards serious music making for a band that had played almost solely in Boston, and self-released their own records. They are apparently making a foray into nonlocal touring, and will be heading towards the midwest with fellow pop-punk band Awful Man early spring in 2011. If they come to you, I'd seriously suggest going to see them. Or at least going to their myspace and buying one of their albums.
The other bands were bands that I was relatively unfamiliar with, so it was a treat to get to see them live. I'd heard of The Transgressions before, but I wasn't really familiar with their work. I knew that they were a bigger name band in the pop-punk scene, so to hear that they were coming really excited me. I listened to some of their songs on their myspace in preparation and found myself bobbing my head along. They have some pretty sweet Ramones-esque guitar and drums, and their lyrics are singalongable and relatable. They sing slowly enough that it is easy to hear what they are singing, and quickly grasp the topic of break-ups, basement shows, etc. Their song Bored is one of my favorites so far that I've heard. It reminds me of, similarly to The Credentials, an older version of pop-punk not as similar to Screeching Weasel, but definitely more reminiscent of good, old '77 punk. There's definitely a solid beat to their songs that is compelling, and equally danceable.
I was outside of the house for a majority of Dead Uncles', and Awful Man's shows but from what I can find online of their music (not much, admittedly) they have some pretty radical sounds. Dead Uncles (from Connecticut) has a messy NOFX style sound that reminds me of basement punk from the 90's. It sounds to me at least, like something that would have been featured in a skate video from way-back-when. Their whole demo is available for download here. It's definitely worth a listen if you're into early pop-punk or DIY punk (also a similar sound).
All that I can find for Awful Man (from Boston, MA) is a review of their new demo "New Ways To Say Fuck Off". Their guitar sound is a bit different from the other bands that played that evening given that they focus a lot more of the melodic aspect of the guitar and harmonizing vocals. Overall, however, they good listening music--something that I might listen to while skateboarding or biking. Definitely got a few headbobs from me. A clip of their music is available on the Dead Broke Rekerds' site. Pretty good gritty Boston pop-punk.
Overall it was a successful and awesome evening--I'll keep you posted on more shows!
Photo Credit: Jordan Lee via The Transgressions' myspace.
No comments:
Post a Comment