You Don't Know What You're Fucking With

I haven't been to a Whitney show since Off With Their Heads last November, so it felt good to go back there last night and catch up on why it's such an awesome place to see a show. The sound is always great, the bands are right in your face, there's plenty of room to sell merch, there's always one or two people willing to do something crazy... which is probably about the same as all the other basement shows around, but unlike bars and clubs, there's always one or two things at every Whitney House show that make it worth showing up.

Last night it was Sister Kisser, from New York, who I'd never heard of before but they just totally rocked my ass off. Even though their demo is pretty good, you'd have to play it full blast in your car with the windows rolled up to get any kind of idea about how heavy these guys are live, because they sure know how to rock the fuck out of their songs. Sister Kisser seems to be approaching things from about the same direction as Get Bent, Iron Chic, Sleepwall, bands like that, but then they take the basic template, add in some Replacements "Stink" and maybe some AC/DC "Back In Black" sped up a little, and turn the rock up to ten. They're on a short tour now of the Northeast (VT, NY, PA, NJ), so go see them if you get the chance and they will kick your ass across the room, I guarantee it.




Hand Grenade Serenade's sound seems to be getting more technical these days; I don't know if they were always that way, or if I'm just starting to notice it more. Not that they're not still a wicked punk band, because they are, only that last night by the end of their set they were sounding like a big, amped-up metal machine. Maybe it's because of the way Genesis plays like Bob Stinson and K.K Downing all rolled into one; the guy's like a freak with a flamethrower in his hands, and I mean that in a good way. Every time I see Hand Grenade Serenade there's always more people getting into them by the end of their set then there was when they first started playing, and last night was no different. Hopefully one of these days they get some of these songs on a CD, and make it loud (like, Motörhead loud) this time.


Sister Kisser -

"Fuck The Doomed"

"Soul Glow"

Hand Grenade Serenade -

"Inkblot"

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This Place Sucks

Before last Friday it had been nine months since the last time I saw Murdervan, which is kinda dumb considering they're my favorite Ct. band and so forth. It's also been a while since I've seen a set of theirs that wasn't hampered by equipment trouble, or bad sound, or whatever else, and Friday night was no exception-- though they still tore it up regardless. Andre didn't seem to mind getting into a little friendly give-and-take with some of people in the crowd who were shouting out dumb stuff all night, either. I'm sure I've cried this same note a lotta times, but I would've wished for Ct.'s sake that a band with the power to deftly mix Black Flag with Black Sabbath and a little Epitaph-era New Bomb Turks would have a lot bigger following by now, but maybe that added Kiss cover or two is all it's gonna take to turn that around. Now that I think about it, it's been a while since I've heard them play some new material, too, though I'm sure they're working on it...




Hand Grenade Serenade announced a Jawbreaker cover on Friday night, but I don't know a single Jawbreaker song, so I can't tell if they actually pulled it off. It wasn't exactly their kind of crowd (hence all the blank stares when they mentioned Jawbreaker), but it only took one song before all the disinterested stoner types in the back of the room were standing up front and getting into it. This band just keeps topping themselves every time I see them, and while their newer material is pretty close to unbeatable, they've beefed up their older material, too; case in point, "Americana", which I sorta used to skip over on their "Black Market Band" CD, but has now become an anchor of their live set. Any of their past releases (which are all at least a year old, anyway) don't even apply to this band anymore, and if they ever get the mix right, their next album is bound to be a hell of an ass-kicker.


Murdervan -

"Black Phil"

Hand Grenade Serenade -

"Americana"

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One More Scar Tonight

Here's a good one from Hand Grenade Serenade, from their 2007 split with Chasing Trinity. I love the Texas Is The Reason-type emo-metal parts to this one, especially the uptempo bridge they stuck at the very end. This is one of the older songs that they re-recorded just this past week (along with some newer songs) for an upcoming CD.


Hand Grenade Serenade -

"Angst For The Memories"

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Our Best People Are Working On It

Yesterday was the I AM Festival in New London ("I AM" = Independent Artists and Musicians), meaning my plan was to get in early, watch a bunch of the local Connecticut indie bands that were appearing around the middle of the bill (Eula, Atrina, Brava Spectre, Hand Grenade Serenade) and then get out of town quickly before the high-profile menstrual cycle rock like Martha Wainwright and Jay Reatard hit the stage-- a plan that worked to a T. The only glitch all day came when the deli on Bank St. that I used to really like turned out to be a gift shop now or something, so we ended up eating at some awful open patio restaurant/tiki bar type place, which I'll never willingly eat at again.




Atrina's presentation still needs a bit of work-- to be fair, they've apparently got five years' worth of rust to contend with-- but their songs are really great; nice bottom-heavy rock stuff with some spacier passages in between, sorta like a more rugged Farewood. Like that's gonna help anyone, seeing as most of you haven't heard any of the newer Farewood stuff, but y'know, that's what the song down below is for.

Atrina -

"Beautiful Evidence"

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New London locals Brava Spectre are a bunch of fucked-up kids doing it 90's emo/jazzcore style, updated with some Lighting Bolt for good measure. Their set was amazing-- lots of noise and screaming going on, and things being thrown around; sometimes the guy who sings would put his guitar down, walk around while leading the whole crowd in a chant, and then pick up his guitar and start playing again without skipping a beat. Awesome shit.

Brava Spectre -

"The Lioness Eye Tamed My Open Palm"

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It's always a good idea to stay away from indie rock bands that the inept local music press describes as "danceable", and who write songs about punctuation. While Eula are one of those Advocate-described danceable bands, they have no songs about punctuation, so I guess we're safe for now. Luckily, "A Hold", from Eula's 2008 "Fill Your Heart" EP, is not particularly "bouncy" (though it is "energy-filled" when it gets really fuzzy towards the end), so I don't have to apologize for liking it so much.

Eula -

"A Hold"

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Everytime I see Hand Grenade Serenade live they blow their CD away, and now that they have their original drummer back they're pretty much unstoppable. "Bruchetta", the song they opened their set with, is the most rockingest thing they've ever done, like Leatherface and Motörhead and The Dukes of Hillsborough all thrown together. They're supposed to be recording some of their new stuff at the end of the month, and I seriously can't wait to hear it.

Hand Grenade Serenade -

"Orgy of The Dead"

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