Event Horizon, 9/14: NUDE BEACH, DIVERS, DEFECT DEFECT, BI-MARKS

I tried writing a press release for this show a while back and found myself at a loss for words in trying to describe NUDE BEACH in a way that really captures what they're like and about as a band. It wasn't until I was driving around late night listening to English pre-punk that the comparisons finally started coming to mind.

NUDE BEACH are first and foremost a band out of the DIY punk scene, although I'd never describe their music as punk. Too many bands from our little scene these days seem to listen to little else, to be influenced by little else, and to sound like little else than other bands of their ilk. Alternately, too many bands these days are so busy emulating bands from the good old days that they've lost all relevance outside of their own myopic sub-sub-genre of independent music.

But, NUDE BEACH is their own animal. They're often compared to both TOM PETTY and BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, but I'm equally reminded of ELVIS COSTELLO's earliest singles, possibly even EDDIE AND THE HOT RODS, played with the energy of THE JAM. And, as their video for "Walkin' Down My Street," the first single from their latest full-length, demonstrates, NUDE BEACH seems to just want to hang out and play music at a packed house show. (Unfortunately for those of us who love their music and want to claim it as our own without sharing it with the rest of the world, the days when NUDE BEACH will be able to play small clubs like Slabtown for five bucks might be drawing to an end. After completing this solo tour, they're slated to open for Roky Erickson on a tour of the East Coast and Mid-West, and the word will be out.)

And speaking of bands-on-the-verge, our own DIVERS will be there as well Friday night. Like NUDE BEACH, they are another band with strong DIY roots but influences that roam far and wide. For most of their existence as a band, DIVERS seemed to play infrequently if not rarely around town. Lately, though, they've started playing out and about more often, and they've started picking up more and more gigs that will introduce their sound to people who never got the invite to the house show they played last month. And, as much as I'd like to keep them as my own private secret, it's bitchen to see them starting to get the recognition they deserve because they truly are one of the best bands in Portland.

The other two bands on the bill, DEFECT DEFECT and BI-MARKS, feature two of the best frontmen in Portland (Seriously, the only one better who immediately comes to mind is August Alston from WALLS.). DEFECT's Colin Sanders brings his playfulness directly into the crowd, often pointing the mic at random audience members in an attempt to get them to sing lyrics they may or may not know while mussing their hair or otherwise just invading their personal bubbles. Evan Johnson of BI-MARKS, on the other hand, seems to be channeling Henry Rollins as he throws himself to the floor in the midst of the crowd, and whenever they play, my first thought is to clear the empty glasses from every table within fifteen feet of the stage. As a firm believer that live music is meant to be experienced and not just passively received (You can always watch TV at home if you want to be bored.), I cannot get enough of either of them.

Friday, September 14. Doors at 9. $5.

Some links:
NUDE BEACH's "Walkin' Down My Street" video.
Two songs from NUDE BEACH's innovatively-titled "II" full-length.
DIVERS on Facebook.
DEFECT DEFECT's self-titled full-length on bandcamp.
BI-MARKS on MySpace.

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