Hobo Chili – The Leftovers Compilation
This is an after Thanksgiving compilation that was put together by ska/punk/jazz band Hobo Chili who have themselves a couple of tasty cuts served up for us on this platter.
But there are also twenty-nine other bands who offer up tantalizing appetizers along with a poet and a comedian- providing dessert.
And not only do you have this song buffet, this musical feast, but all proceeds are going for two good causes and will be split between The Boston Food Bank and The Midway Cafe.
Everyone knows and everyone says you have to do things for the right reason.
I believe that to be true. But my favorite charity, St. Francis House for the homeless, enlightened me years ago that even if you give for the wrong reasons- say to make yourself feel more grand and pompous than you may already be. Your money still goes to help out people who really need it.
And if you’re reading this, I figure you’re a fan or in a band of the music that we cover. And even if you live in an area far away from the Midway Cafe, I’m sure a lot of you have had a good time at the Midway.
There’s some real concern about the Midway surviving these covid times.
So, please buy this comp or buy one of their wonderful t-shirts if you can afford to.
I can’t mention every band but my favorite tracks are:
DNZL’s “Blue Magic” has vocally aggressive hardcore vocals matched with a hard rocking beat and sound samples laid over a more laid back track before it totally rips.
Great New York hardcore band Live Fast Die Fast’s song “Only Dicks Don’t Like Kill Your Idols” represents intense, energetic New York hardcore at its finest.
“Hell Ride” by Taxi Driver mixes metal music with hardcore vocals in a powerfully, potent tune that builds to a colossal crescendo.
Fast Time’s singer/guitarist/songwriter Nick Hebditch contributes one of my favorites “Comrade Death” which I feel combines the vibe of eighties post/punk with nineties pop/punk successfully in an excellent song with very, nice backing vocals.
OC45’s “City On A Hill” is a terrific punk/hardcore song with elements of both styles and an almost, rap like delivery in the vocals.
Neighborhood Shit contributes “Smashism” with their powerfully, politically aware, passionate, hard hitting hardcore, gearing towards grindcore and producing an energetic, volatile song.
A new Cape Cod band “Dead Low” is a band that mixes punk, metal, classic rock and Oi. Their song “High Horse” makes me think of a collaboration between Anti-Nowhere League and the Pat Benatar Band. And as bizarre as that sounds, this song sounds just as great.
Singer/songwriter CE Skidmore’s song “Chaos” is a bluesy, expressive, downbeat tune with great lyrics that leads towards musical and spiritual redemption.
North Shore band Quiggs, “So Far Gone” is a well-written song that I feel is one of the best on the comp. It’s full of exciting energy, wonderful melodies and catchy guitar hooks.
C.O.B.’s “Homeless Guy” is a great mix of skate punk and melodic punk. “We’re too proud to say we’re just one step away from being that bum.” How true!
“Unlucky 17” by Duck & Cover is a terrific, catchy melodic tune with equal fingers in punk, glam and hard rock.
Jay Genoa’s new band “Grip Bite” contributes “Broken Boards, Broken Bones,” it’s abrasive hardcore in style but still conjures up the wild, skate punk of his old band, the wonderful Red Line Rebels.
Dan Reineman from Honest John has a new band called The Martyr Oath who play doom-y, industrial hardcore and are intensely dark and deeply expressive.
There’s also a very funny comedian Kevin Tit who does a bit about “Solving The War On Christmas.”
And my favorite poet, Jake Tringali, performs one of my favorite poems of his, “Apocalypse, Red Lipstick,” which comes off like lyrics to an Iggy Pop tune.
“Jenny’s gonna right a wrong tonight…She’s not sure if it’s boredom or spite. With a prayer and a trigger and a skewed gunsight. Jenny’s gonna wreck the city tonight…She planned her attack written in this song. She planned this atrocity to right a wrong. Jenny’s gonna start the apocalypse tonight.”
This compilation makes me homesick.
Because listening to this, I’m not only reminded of all the great bands I know and have written about, but also of all the great people I’ve come to know from the punk/hardcore scene. And I’m reminded how much I miss them.
I’m reminded- No! Not those obnoxious things you program to pop up on your phone, those “reminders”-
This is a reminder I feel pop up in my mind and in my heart.
And what this comp also reminds me of is, “What a bunch of thoughtful, caring, creative bunch of weirdos I know.”
I’m leaving myself out, of course, in this evaluation.
But seriously, if you’ve ever enjoyed or appreciated what Andy and I have done at Thrash N Bang in the last, almost ten years. (Yes, it’s been that long).
Please buy this compilation and help keep The Midway and the Boston punk music scene afloat.
(Slimedog)
