Tuesday, March 27, 2012

What You Missed, 3/26/12: PEROXIDE, BI-MARKS, RAT FACE (PA), RIPPER, HAPPY NOOSE (OLY)

Last night, you stayed home and watched the new episode of Law and Order SVU instead of coming to Slabtown to see the punk rock. Sorry for yr loss...

Nick Bellicose put this show together, but I asked him to add HAPPY NOOSE, who were on their way back to Olympia from the Treefort Music Festival in Boise. So, we get five bands for five bucks on a Monday night, four hardcore bands and the poppish HAPPY NOOSE.

PEROXIDE are a pretty no frills HC band, and there were already a good 50-75 people there when they opened the show. Good hooks and good energy, and I sport wood every time a singer leaves the stage and gets into the crowd. Not typically a big fan of vox effects, but I also really dug the amount of reverb on the vocals. Thunderous.

BI-MARKS were second up and effin' brought it last night. Their singer Evan is one of my favorite PDX front men. I've already mentioned that singers in the crowd do it for me, but Evan has that added crazy-eye thing going, too. He's alternately pushing himself into the crowd and dropping into a fetal position at the foot of the stage, and I have the idea that this isn't a schtick--it's something that happens to him when BI-MARKS plays. I unfortunately had to pretend to be an adult and start watching the crowd because things were starting to get rowdy, and while I was standing there, some guy in a flannel named Jeremy ran head-long into my liver and then rode me piggyback around the pit. I'm not much more effective as security as I am at bartending. If you haven't seen BI-MARKS yet, go do it.

By the time RAT FACE starts their set, there are maybe 125 people there, getting restless because the band is having some technical issues with the guitar amp. Once they get going, the place doesn't exactly erupt, but a lot of pent up energy seems to come out all at once. Wall of sound hardcore, the bass making my fillings vibrate. Effin' love that. They're heading to Eureka next. Get ready Humboldt...

I'll assume that since RIPPER have been around for years you are all familiar with their metallfuckinfire brand of HC. I had to actually work during most of their set, but what I caught didn't disappoint. I love a band that can meld the HC energy and attitude with the metal, and I totally lose for having had to spend my time as a club owner instead of a member of the crowd.

After a night of HC, the crowd didn't really know what to make of HAPPY NOOSE and the pop-punk. Live, they come across as a lot more Ramonesy than their full-length would lead a guy to believe. Again, I had to spend a good part of their set working but loved what I was able to catch. We'll be bringing them back sometime in May when I can put them on a more fitting bill.

I gotta say, though, that there's some serious irony in the cool reception HAPPY NOOSE got from the crowd last night. For those of you who don't know, HAPPY NOOSE's drummer is John Dahlin, the original singer for the seminal Seattle crossover band THE ACCUSED. From 1982 to 1984 or so, John was blazing the trail that bands like RIPPER are still following thirty years later.

Sorry, no pics from last night. But check out the bands that played online, and catch them the next time they play.

Links:
PEROXIDE on FB
BI-MARKS on MySpace
BI-MARKS on KBOO/Life During Wartime
RAT FACE video on youtube
RIPPER on MySpace
RIPPER in the PDX Merc
HAPPY NOOSE on bandcamp

No comments:

Post a Comment