It's New York versus Seattle at the Inn tonight!
There’s a lot to be said for not giving people exactly what they want. When this gig was first announced, a few eyebrows were raised at the pairing of New York hardcore stalwarts Sheer Terror with melodic Seattle punk n’ rollers The Drowns, but ultimately it’s a winning combination: both bands dealing in street-level sounds and speaking plenty of truth to power. Certainly, the varied turnout of punks, rockers and hardcore fans is indicative of the bands’ broad appeal, and there’s no faulting the crowd for enthusiasm.
Openers Bullet are a last-minute addition to the bill, and a great one at that. Sure, they’re hardly reinventing the hardcore wheel, but it’s rare that we see a young band sound as furious and downright hungry as they do on ‘Best Interest’, ‘Live By The Sword’ and their turbocharged cover of Bad Brains’ ‘Banned in DC’. Their set seems to fly by in minutes, to the accompaniment of some truly bizarre antics in the pit, with folks chasing each other around and giving each other piggy backs. Hey, hardcore needn’t always be about tough guy antics, y’know!
State Sanctioned Violence seem to sound increasingly dark and evil every time we see them, and we’re starting to wonder if they’re in the league with The Horned One himself. If so, guys, please could you help me strike a deal for my soul? Seriously though, their blend of crust, crossover thrash and D-beat is tonight played with the intensity of a black metal band (we should know, we saw one last night), and that’s definitely a good thing. The older songs still hit hard, but newer efforts like ‘Occupation’ are just flat out brutal – as is the pit action – and have us salivating in anticipation of their imminent debut album.
“There shouldn’t be billionaires in a world where people are fucking starving!” Such are the words of The Drowns singer/guitarist Rev, and it’s hard to argue. Unlike last year, his band are now touring as just a trio, but it’s a credit to him and his bandmates – bassist Andy and drummer Jake – that they still sound so powerful. They whip up some of the sweatiest and loudest sing-alongs of the night with an anthemic ‘Wolves On The Throne’ and the evergreen ‘Ketamine & Cola’, whilst newies ‘Have A Heart’ and ‘Always A Bastard’ are quite rightly dispatched with pride and relish. This is honest, blue-collar stuff; we can’t get enough of it, and a closing ‘Them Rats’ is no less enjoyable for being predictable.
Sheer Terror frontman Paul doesn’t half like to ramble on about life and the state of the world in general. Some of it makes sense (especially when he holds his microphone close enough), some of it doesn’t, but it does kind of rob their set of momentum. A shame, because when he and his band really kick into gear, they sound great, with the likes of ‘Squat Diddler’ and ‘Twisting And Turning’ guttural as hell and tough as old boots. Oh, and they whip up a maelstrom down the front to boot. Finishing with a ramshackle cover of The Cure’s ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ isn’t really the best way to sign off for the night, but oh well.
Seattle beats NYC this time around, then, but it’s been a highly enjoyable battle to witness. Cheers to all involved, and to Real Life Presents for putting together such a strong bill!
All Photos: ALEX GOOSE
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