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.
"Fuck The Doomed"
"Soul Glow"
Hand Grenade Serenade -
"Inkblot"
(these files are now listen-only)
3 comments:
Thanks for sharing these tunes. Sister Kisser have a cool sound -- remind me a lot of early Hot Water Music. I hope to catch these dudes the next time they play in NYC.
You might not be that far off the mark with Hot Water Music, other people have said that too... seems to be a NY/LI type of sound that's going on now, too.
Definitely check out Sister Kisser; I've seen a lot of bands play great sets at Whitney House (Guilty Faces, Cheap Time, Estrogen Highs, Iron Hand, Off With Their Heads), and their set the other week could be my favorite one out of all of 'em so far.
The mp3 files on this post are now listen-only (non-downloadable) files.
Also, San Grenade Hearing Aid broke up at the end of July or thereabouts. Sucks, but they had their reasons (there's a blog on their MySpace about it).
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