The Pity Whores / Whoopie Sticks / Stiletto Bomb / Threat Level Burgundy
Midway Cafe, Jamaica Plain, MA 8/17/15
“But what can a poor horn player do? But play in a ska/punk band?”- not Mick Jagger.
This is a Monday night at the Midway. Not a hopping night, you say, but I say, nay-you are wrong, at least in this case, because a punk show is hoppen-ing. Not a punk matinee, per se, let’s call it a Mon-tinee, okay?
First band is Threat Level Burgundy and if you took a hint from the first paragraph then I guess you can guess what they play.
They are a Rolling Stones cover band- Nope, wrong answer!
They are, in fact, a ska/punk band- not a genre that is one of my faves.
But I do know that for that genre’s style to work, as so in other genres like funk, the rhythm section has to be tight and precise. As tight as a Republican Presidential candidates rectum, I’d say.
But that is not the case here. This band is loose, a bit nervous but still having fun and it seems like the crowd is having fun, also.
Just a guess here, but I’m thinking this might be their first gig.
But the fun overshadows the playing factor and since I have no doubt (ska/pop band) that this is a fun band (Threat Level Burgundy), I’m giving them a thumbs up.
Stiletto Bomb is next and when I hear a couple of the members played in the local band Pajama Slave Dancers, who Andy and I saw numerous times in the eighties- well, I just loose control of all my bodily functions and the Midway floor becomes covered with mucous, urine, feces and earwax.
After a quick cleanup in aisle nine, I await in eager anticipation for their appearance.
Let it be told- Pajama Slave Dancers were probably the funniest, funnest band Andy and I ever followed. Coming from Western Mass. this band put on shows that were a riot both in musical mayhem and humor.
So this band, Stiletto Bomb, is not hardcore. This is not crossover or post anything. But this is how a lot of the best local bands in the eighties sounded like in Boston.
Not so much punk but high energy, gutsy garage influenced rock. This is really kick ass punk’n’roll that’s loud, aggressive and grabs you by the throat and balls and takes no prisoners; with hardly a pause between songs.
I was at the bar during their set while the drummer from The Pity Whores tried to ask the bartender, Lenny Lashley, a question and they kept trying to find a space between songs to communicate but it just wasn’t happening!
And I’m glad to hear that PSD is still playing a bit and glad I got my ass sonic-ally kicked by Stiletto Bomb tonight.
The Whoopi Sticks are next bringing their strange, but potent brew of punk/no wave/ surf/ Devo rhythms cracked nursery rhymes to the stage.
I know a lot of you are wondering, “Hey, how come the Whoopi Sticks get covered so much? Why doesn’t my band, The Lilac Llamas, get the deserved press we so desperately need?”
Well, you see, the leader/dictator of the Whoopi Sticks, Elle Dubs, happens to be my punk daughter. And when your daughter has a recital, as a father, you are always obliged to attend.
I mean, I remember when she was just a little girl playing the bassoon in her elementary school band. And during one recital she proceeded to break her bassoon over Theodore, the tuba players head and then set it on fire. ( The bassoon not poor Theodore).
I knew, there and then, that my dreams of having a world renowned bassoonist for a daughter were dashed to smithereens (as was the bassoon). But I also knew that I had to sign her up, immediately, for punk rock class. And I’m so glad that I did.
This is the tail end of their first foray out of state playing New Jersey and New York the last couple of days.
And they have a brand new talented bassist who holds the beat well, as Elle Dubs sings lead, plays drums and directs the stage lighting as they play.
The new bassist name is Theo- yes, it’s her old, schoolmate/band mate from her younger days! After the set he tells me he tries his best to play well ’cause he’s still a little afraid of something being broken over his head while he’s playing.
As nice as it was to see Whoopi Sticks the exact opposite emotions arise when The Pity Whores approach the stage.
But as deplorable, disgusting, depraved, deloused as The Pity Whores are as people, when they play they decimate the playing field with punk/pop/hardcore power and fill the atmosphere with their contagious, metaphorically sexually transmitted sense of fun.
And a new drummer is filling in tonight. He’s from The Union Boys and Mickey Rickshaw and he plays with such intensity and force that he usually looses blood from wounds and tonight is no exception.
And it’s no exception tonight that The Pity Whores deliver one of the best live local shows one can witness.
And all I’ve got to add is-
But what can a poor rock scribe do? But write about a punk show Midway Monday night anyway?
(Slimedog)
