My Head Is Just As Empty As Everyone Else's

I hadn't been to a D.I.Y. show in New Haven for some time now, or at least not since Popeye's closed, so it felt good to head down there last weekend and see some faces that I haven't seen in a while. The night got off to an amusing start when the lady who runs the clothing store that was downstairs from where the show was happening (756 Chapel St.) decided to give me a hard time just for sitting in one of her chairs. I guess she decided to stay open later, instead of closing at 7 like she normally does, and then she didn't like it when people started hanging out by the front of the store, waiting for the bands to start. I ended up walking back to my car and sitting there for half an hour listening to my Drunks With Guns tape, but it was still sorta funny.

The show was a blast once things got going, with each band bringing something different, which is generally sorta cool because it helps keep me awake. As I had mentioned, the space was a loft above a storefront, and the room itself had surprisingly decent sound, even if I found myself thinking that the vocals could've been turned up a lot more throughout the whole night... though I'm starting to figure out that most of the bands from around here don't like their vocals, anyway. Groomers is Tim from Dead Uncles' new side project, which someone had described to me earlier as being "like Estrogen Highs when they were still punk" (i.e. sloppy garage rock), and I can't really improve on that description. Right now their riffs are well ahead of their ability to play them, but they've definitely got some good songs. I'm hoping they stick it out and actually make a record someday, because I think it'll be worth it. Clockpunch is some Estrogen Highs guys playing oi!, or at least that's what I was expecting, although it turned out that their riffs are coming more from the Negative Approach/Blitz/oi-metal side of things than classic thuggish, chugging UK oi!. As a for instance, they did a cover of "Bloodstains" by Agent Orange, which fit in pretty well with the rest of what they were doing. Parasol, from Boston, are sorta Slumberland pop; their tape-- which I bought and listened to on the drive home-- is pretty good, but their drummer brings their live set up to the next level of rock, so I ended up liking their set a lot. They played one new song which was their best song by far, though I didn't catch the name of it.

Dead Uncles set was a total barn-burner, easily killing the last two times I saw them (at Whitney House with Boilerman and Popeye's Garage with The Shakes, which I'm noticing now I was too lazy to write about). They've expanded their set list to 9 or 10 songs now, and played at least 3 newer songs that I wasn't as familiar with. Sometimes when you see a band enough times it becomes easy to lose track of the specific things that drew you to them in the first place, but Dead Uncles definitely put a stake in the ground and re-established themselves with their set. Afterwards, everyone contined to hang around upstairs instead of taking off as soon as the last band ended, soaking up the buzz and stretching the night out a little more. I thought it was neat, so I stuck around and talked a bit too, because I'm a social butterfly, just ask anyone.


Parasol, "4th of July"


Zone, "Deicide"


Dead Uncles, "Constant Disappointment"