Just Some More Shit I Gotta Do

It's been so long since I took these photos that nobody gives a shit, right? I can't think of the last time that I went to two shows in one day (seeing Fatal Film in New London and then accidentally catching Candlebox at the casino afterwards doesn't count) (actually it was a couple of years ago when I saw Easy Action twice in the same night, but whatever). The main show that night was California X and Potty Mouth at the Westco Cafe, with at least one other band that I completely forget. No, wait, it was some band that played a Rage Against The Machine cover. Fuck, I remembered. But first Iron Hand and Weald played a show at Music House, on the other side of the Wesleyan campus, and that was pretty great. There was an Eddie Money record jacket tacked up on the wall in the living room, so somebody's got good taste (unless it was ironic) (yeah, no shit) (of course it was). Iron Hand played a bunch of new songs that were a slight departure from their older stuff -- more riffy, more hook-y than usual. Almost metal like the Accused or something, if you can believe that. I dug the new stuff a lot; I think there's a new Iron Hand record coming out, not sure on the details, but some of the tracks might be recorded already. Then everybody hustled over to Westco to catch the second show, and for some reason the kid at the door was nervous and asked me to make up some story to explain why I was there (since I'm obviously not a student), so I showed him my camera and said "I'm taking pictures for my blog, One Base on an Overthrow", and he said "right, okay, One Base on an Overthrow", as if he'd heard of it before. Then whether it was dumb luck or by accident, the dude who picked the songs to play in-between bands played "Waiting For The Man" (Velvet Underground) and "Roadrunner" (Modern Lovers) back to back, how the fuck can you beat that? Anyway, here ya go, here's some old photos I took.


Weald -

"Vengeance is Mine"


Potty Mouth, "Rusted Shut" (listen-only)

I Wish There Was Something We Could Call You People

This show was pretty peachy, especially since you never know what you're gonna find when you hit a place for the first time. I managed to swing a parking spot right out in front that wasn't a handicapped spot (would've sucked if I had to park on one of the other side streets), plus, as basement venues go, this one has a bunch of neat things going for it. There's a decent-sized lawn out in back with a couple of fire pits for people to stand around making s'mores or whatever (really, that's what they were doing), and what not. The downstairs area where the bands play is decorated kinda like if the back room of a record store fell into an Applebee's, or what you'd imagine Chuck Eddy's basement looks like (I was gonna say Jim DeRogatis' basement but there weren't enough empty Cheetos bags laying around), and for extra visual noise there was a TV in the corner that by the end of the night was constantly playing some Turkish comedy show or something. I'm guessing no one uses the shower.

Blessed State and Potty Mouth were both dead-on, in fact I'd say this was probably the best set I've seen so far from Potty Mouth, who're becoming much more adept at their way of rocking vs. when I first saw them a year ago, and it really showed in the way they were playing off the crowd last Saturday night. Potty Mouth's got a new record coming out that I think is gonna turn some heads -- not that they haven't been getting a lot of attention lately anyway -- as there's some tracks on there like "The Gap" and "Rusted Shut" that came out like total gems, plus there's the two tracks from the "Big In Brazil" cassette like "Black and Studs", which I think is the best recorded track they've produced to date. On Saturday they ended their set with a cover of "Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World", which caught me by surprise because not only had I started walking out to my car already, thinking they were done, and then had to head back when I heard them starting another song, but I'm also not sure if they bothered to sing the "Nazi shatze" part or even if I've ever heard them attempt a cover before.

Blessed State wiped the floor pretty good, too; when I saw them a week or two earlier, in a tiny basement room in East Hartford, I stood right in front of Kiana's bass cabinet which (along with the cellblock-sized room) gave me a better appreciation of how much of an anchor she is for this band. Unfortunately, I stood in front of Rob this time, but that's where the fan was blowing so it was a lot cooler over there. Blessed State have this one song, I don't know the name of it and I never remember to ask (they just call it out as 'number 5'), but the bass line sounds like a total monster on it and it could be their best song right now -- I guess I'll have to wait for when the record comes out. By the way, last time I said Blessed State had enough material for an EP, but they've maybe gone past that and might even be putting together an LP now. You should see me trying to write and think at the same time, it gets pretty hilarious.


Potty Mouth -

"The Spins"

Blessed State -

"Wiser"

I Don't Need Any Shit From You

Blessed State, "Ghost Front"



Solids, "Fog Friends"



Potty Mouth, "Shithead"



Slug Guts, "Howlin'"



Salvation -

"Intake"

California X -

"Pond Rot"

Lurve -

"Futures"