Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Street Eater’s badass new album is relentlessly raw and heavy, and I was stoked to hear the East Bay duo’s latest rippers alongside favorites at The Redwood. Holy crap, they are one of my favorite bands ever, empowered by straight-up DIY punk via Gilman and pushed over the top by the two-way animalistic empowerment that happens between two human beings who dominate at their instruments. Did I mention that their lyrics are smarter than shit? So good.
There were two great openers, too. Nerve Beats are a somewhat jazz-infected, melodic punk trio in the tradition of the Minutemen and Nomeansno. Coming all the way from Honolulu, of course they were really nice dudes as well. I bought some hand-burned CD-Rs and really dig ‘em. I’d tell you which songs especially rule if the titles were listed somewhere.
Is OFF! the gnarliest band in the universe? The members’ chops came out of heavy bands like Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Redd Kross, and Rocket from the Crypt and they are complemented and pushed by each other’s unique badassness. That’s why they can tour with young, up-and-coming, and hungry punks like NASA Space Universe and Cerebral Ballzy without seeming like fossils. Instead, they’re the badass godfathers.
The vocals of Keith Morris are the blueprint for angry, pissed-off hardcore but they come off as brand new with the ripping guitar of Dimitri Coats, percolating bass of Steve McDonald, and massive drums of Mario Rubalcaba. The raging set was drawn pretty evenly from the essential first four EPs, bitchin’ self-titled debut, and the darker-than-crap follow-up. I loved it when Keith chided a girl for trying to take the playlist mid-set without asking by saying, “Don’t be a Republican.” And then followed, “Don’t be a Democrat, either.”
I’ve never been to Coachella but I’ve become a fan because I like the club shows that the bands play in L.A. in-between. A couple of weeks ago I got to see Bryan Ferry at Club NOKIA. That’s a pretty small place to see a rock god play a killer survey of mostly Roxy Music songs with choice solo material. From “Re-Make/Re-Model” and “Ladytron” to “More Than This/Avalon” and “Jealous Guy,” he put on a clinic of how to be cool.
Is OFF! the gnarliest band in the universe? The members’ chops came out of heavy bands like Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Redd Kross, and Rocket from the Crypt and they are complemented and pushed by each other’s unique badassness. That’s why they can tour with young, up-and-coming, and hungry punks like NASA Space Universe and Cerebral Ballzy without seeming like fossils. Instead, they’re the badass godfathers.
The vocals of Keith Morris are the blueprint for angry, pissed-off hardcore but they come off as brand new with the ripping guitar of Dimitri Coats, percolating bass of Steve McDonald, and massive drums of Mario Rubalcaba. The raging set was drawn pretty evenly from the essential first four EPs, bitchin’ self-titled debut, and the darker-than-crap follow-up. I loved it when Keith chided a girl for trying to take the playlist mid-set without asking by saying, “Don’t be a Republican.” And then followed, “Don’t be a Democrat, either.”
I’ve never been to Coachella but I’ve become a fan because I like the club shows that the bands play in L.A. in-between. A couple of weeks ago I got to see Bryan Ferry at Club NOKIA. That’s a pretty small place to see a rock god play a killer survey of mostly Roxy Music songs with choice solo material. From “Re-Make/Re-Model” and “Ladytron” to “More Than This/Avalon” and “Jealous Guy,” he put on a clinic of how to be cool.