Barroom Heroes / The Shivering Brigade / Empty Vessels / Jonee Eathquake Band / The McGunks / The Frenzy Of Tongs / The Pity Whores
Firehouse 13, Providence, RI 10/28/2012
The day before the hurricane hit I was at the Firehouse for a Sunday matinee punk show. It might’ve still been calm outside but inside the air was turbulent with smashing rhythms, crashing waves of sound and general musical destruction. And all accomplished without the help of Mother Nature. But I don’t mean to make light of the situation, we really hope everyone is safe and coping all right with any misfortune that came their way.
The show starts off with those deplorable thugs, The Pity Whores or as I refer to them, The Pitiful Prostitutes. After witnessing a lovely acoustic guitar and cello recital by two of the louts at The Midway the evening before I was unprepared for the total assault with the full band intact and electrified. Though they strive to be the most reprehensible hooligans of society I must admit they have a lot of catchy, energetic songs. Lots of the songs have a jungle beat like something The Stooges or the Cramps might employ and at times they remind me of a hard hitting eighties band. A standout song is “Girls Don’t Like Me” which I believe should be changed to “Any Breathing, Living Organism, Lawn Chairs and Most Home Appliances Don’t Like Me,” and I was pleased to hear them perform a song I wrote for them which is, coincidentally, about them- “You Make Me Wanna Puke.” Seriously, a great set to lead off the rest.
Frenzy Of Tongs are next and as promoter Brass N Ammo explained to me the reason they don’t sound very good is because it’s part of the concept which is mainly about being funny. A couple of young kids are throwing soft colored balls at the band throughout the set. They have a song called, “I Hate Everything,” where at the end of the song the singer goes, “But everyone here we love. We love each and every one of you,” not a professional sounding band but funny.
The McGunks play next who I haven’t seen for a bit and they’re a band I tend to take for granted but today they remind me how special they are. Led by Bob McGunk on guitar and lead vocals they epitomize all that is good in New England punk’n’roll. Not much hardcore influence in the music just a great mix of traditional punk, street punk and rock’n’roll. They’re doing a lot of old favorites today and deliver a great set, the McGunks are the real thing.
Jonee Earthquake Band is next and the lead singer is dressed just like a pirate because it’s four days before Halloween. (I know, I know, he always dresses that way). Their style is sixties garage pop and surf. They’re a very lighthearted band but they don’t really do it for me. They do end their set with a nice freak-out during a cover of the Stones, “Play With Fire,” though.
One of TNB’s favorite bands, Empty Vessels, plays next. Instead of playing on the high raised stage they set up on the floor in front of it. I think of stage diving off the stage into the drum set but think better of it. They have noise guitar, death metal vocals, driving bass and an excellent drummer who plays rock beats almost as fast as hardcore. They are a very intense band that blurs the lines between noise, punk, metal and hardcore creating a style of their own and turn in a great set.
The Shivering Brigade from Brooklyn is the next to play. They’re a very interesting band that doesn’t play punk, metal or hardcore. They are all excellent players with a female lead singer and a female saw player. I told the saw player after the set that Brass N Ammo said she was the best saw player in any of the bands he books. The saw gave off a sound like a Theremin or like a spooky synthesizer. They reminded me a bit of Siouxsie & The Banshees but without the Goth grimness and lots of the songs had a heavy blues like groove to them provided by the bass. I enjoyed their set.
The BarRoom Heroes followed them and if you don’t already know, they are a trio whose combined ages combined fall way below Slimedog’s. Great band but I had to chastise them when Brass N Ammo started handing out candy and some was offered to them which they took greedily. “Didn’t your parents tell you not to accept candy from strange men,” I shrieked at them. With the addition of the new drummer this band has got tighter and better each time I’ve seen them. Today, they do a cover of “To Have, To Have Not” by Billy Bragg and are joined by Chris from Seven Year Plan on the vocals as well as the benevolent candy giver. A new favorite of mine is a new song called, “Morphine and Ginger Ale.” It’s about one of their aunts who drank and smoked her whole life and was dying from cancer in a hospital. The title refers to what she said she could have now instead of her whisky and smokes. The song has a killer bass lick provided by Nick The Knife, great set lads.
There were a few more bands but, alas, as part of my parole I have to be home by a certain time. Lots of good costumes today- the guitar player of Red Line Rebels, Tom, with his black cowboy and matching black high heels and kerchief was a favorite. But the best costume was definitely Jaime, guitarist of The Trans Fats, with his near perfect copy of Vincent Van Gogh. If only he had cut off one of his ears!
(Slimedog)
