Full Flickr Set

This probably won’t win me any friends, but I’m kind of glad that the Pool Parties for this past Sunday got canceled/moved. I was excited to see The Death Set, Lightning Bolt and No Age, but I’m not really a Cap’n Jazz fan; so when this show was moved to Brooklyn Bowl with the headaches that would cause, my group of friends decided to head back to my place where we could enjoy the new, cooler afternoon for a bit.

More importantly, the cancellation didn’t mean I ‘d lose my energy standing around in the sun for six or so hours so I could attend Hardcore Gig Volume #130 at Death By Audio that night catching The Red Dons, Rations, Pregnant, and Night Birds.

My love of Night Birds is well documented. The thrashy, trashy surf punk band hits all the right notes in that genre with a humor that eludes many other “good time” bands. The speed at which they move can be mind altering as your head being dashed against the rocks and each time I’ve caught them it’s been a family affair.

Pregnant’s debut EP on Don Giovanni Wanna See My Gun? was wonderful, being plainly influenced by many acts, but not really beholden to any specific tropes. It’s “American rock and roll” as lead singer/guitarist Kevin Manion calls it, and that’s perfect.

I knew of the other acts, but they never really crossed over to any thing past that. I’d see the demo tape of Rations around and the releases for Red Dons, so my plan was to bail after Night Birds and head home getting a good night’s rest for once.

Luckily, it didn’t end up that way.

Pregnant was opening. Their first EP wasn’t quite an instant hit around my camp, but it was pretty good comfort food, the sort of musical equivalent of mac n’ cheese on a cold day. Nothing surprising really, but good music played well. I knew of the new album coming out and so I wanted to see if there had been any sort of change or if the sweaty loud live set would inject nitro into the fuel mixture and blast off.

Live, I see where the issue was. This isn’t punk. That’s where I was wrong. I was listening to it in the wrong headspace. I wasn’t approaching it properly and as such, I didn’t really process it properly. My mistake. I should have taken the band at their word rather than placing them within the scene. Here’s the trick.

Pregnant is rock music.

With all that entails. Sometimes goofy, sometimes earnest, always loud, and almost always high energy and intense in tempo or tremor.

Hit their website and get your best headphones and play their soon to be released album as loud as you can stand it, then turn it up a little bit more and then hit play and get a taste for it. After that, go to 538 Johnson on Aug 7th and see them with The Men, Night Birds and Cool Intentions. It’s going to be amazing.

Speaking of Night Birds, they were late for some reason and so the second slot was given over to…

Rations. They’re from DC, they play hardcore and their demo tape is called Anger and Disgust. You probably already know what they sound like. Rations successfully taps into that young energy and the music carries that near mechanical chug quality with an additional guitarist, the music doesn’t really seem to stray far from the formulas. Loud, fast, angry. Loud, slow, angry. Parsons, the singer, is custom ready for iconography though, as he doesn’t sing so much as pace and doesn’t scream so much as try to fill you with the hate he feels. It succeeds at times, but going back later and reading the lyrics will either help you capture that mind space or will repulse you.

From the mindless nihilism of “All is Well” (The world is hell and let’s keep it that way / I have no desire to make a change) to the Hardcore morality plays of “Bodies of Persuasion” (sex for nothing but another vice / with every notch your bedpost rots) and “First to Die” (wasting away and you look like shit / I want to care but I only feel disgust) Rations hits on all of the tropes while not bringing much new to the sound.

I love DC Hardcore. I love straight edge hardcore although I was never edge. The desire to craft something better than what was offered always showed there was at least a glimmer of optimism in the content of acts like Youth of Today. Taking something you have been fed and rejecting it, building your own path, really grabs me.

Rations, though technically sound, does not carry that desire to rise above, seemingly preferring to complain below.

If you get the chance to see Rations live and you have a lot of anger, it’s very cathartic music to that mindset. Just…don’t try to dig too deep just yet. The potential is there, though; so don’t dismiss them based on what I alone say.

Red Dons were pretty impeccable. The history of the band and collective is pretty long and really well covered on their website. I wasn’t really a huge punk follower during most of the last decade, focusing most of my energy into dance music so there’s a lot of sifting through the past with the benefits of someone else’s hindsight. Great for finding “new” music, bad for wanting to be in the tsunami of creativity and that verve which comes with a live performance.

Red Dons, before I digress further, play really smart rock n’ roll with garage and punk overtures, incorporating elements of both to blend into a not wholly unique sound but one that is entirely enjoyable on its own merits. More post-punk new wave herky-jerky than “up the punks” with that kind of sharp and edged contrast between elements rather than the lo-fi attempt to meld the band into one big instrument.

The songwriting really comes through, even through the distortion of a live show as the songs dip and dash and rise and fall, starting and stopping. The guitars carry that slight surf tremolo which activates all of my brains pleasure centers at once turning me into a puddle of joy. The drums keep solid time, not afraid to pull back on fills while still carrying that humanity that makes real drummers just so irreplaceable. The bass playing was solid, but not really amazing, but allowances must be made to the fact that the bassist had separated his shoulder 3 days before the show and was playing in a sling and what must have been an amazing amount of pain.

Doug Burns, lead singer/guitarist was a sight to behold, and on the final track, eschewed his instrument altogether to wade into the crowd like a less confrontational Nolan Strals of Double Dagger. Getting in people’s personal space, but not really provoking them; more to connect.

Speaking of surf tremolo, Night Birds were the last act of the night, having come from the studio to the show. The last time I saw them was when they opened the Bombettes show at Bruar Falls and then we were late so I didn’t see the band so much as the top of their heads and the backs of everyone else’s heads. I heard the music, which was good enough, but ehhhhhhh. Still, my fault for getting there late.

Being able to see what I was missing that first time really made this show far better. The show was packed at this time, as many of the people in the audience seemed to be friends of the band and there was a bit of interplay between the audience and Night Birds. They played “the hits,” going for the bigger, flashier songs like “Killer Waves”, “Thrilling Murder” and opened with “Prognosis: Negative” and went through all of the material from their recording session, playing the entire to be released 7” and one song made it’s debut at the show.

Each song had immediate familiarity that comes with the best of music, and Brian would get help from the audience on the bigger songs. Mike, the guitarist, would throw himself into the pit and play guitar from the floor slamming against people and keeping perfect time. Highly amusing, also highly impressive.

Night Birds is playing again for the Pregnant record release at 538 Johnson St August 7th. Come see these bands. You won’t want to miss it.

Category : Show Review