Of all the bands involved in the initial synthesis of metal riffs, industrial bleakness, punk speed, and psychedelic dissociation later called crust punk (henceforth crust, and its adherents crusties) the UK-based Amebix stands out for its dedication to the unwashed nihilist squatter lifestyle as much as its influence on later bands. Emerging from a Devon schoolyard in 1978 as “The Band With No Name,” Amebix spent most of a decade jobless and often homeless, making music and collecting the dole. Reunited in 2009 and pared down from a quartet to a trio, Amebix plays Reggies Rock Club this Friday with the core of its original membership intact. Read the rest of this entry »

When the Austin hardcore punk band the Stains played their first Los Angeles show in 1981, they were dismayed at the presence of another Stains on the bill, bringing to three the number of hardcore punk bands with that name. When Dicks bassist Buxf Parrot suggested “Millions of Dead Cops,” the now-former Texas Stains took it and ran. After a five-year hiatus between 1995 and 2000, the band reformed with three of four original members, added a new bassist and guitarist, and hit the road anew. Fittingly, the dour self-declared anarchists play Reggies Rock Club this May Day, a few days before the 123rd anniversary of the Haymarket Riot. Read the rest of this entry »

“We are not just a regular punk rock band,” claims Peelander-Yellow, of New York City’s anime-influenced power pop trio Peelander-Z. “We want to be your kindergarten teacher. Why don’t you go back to kindergarten with us and smile and dance and be crazy and then call ‘Peelander-Zuuui’?” Class will be in session at Reggies Rock Club this Sunday night. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re going to devote seventeen years of your life to something, it had better be something special. Damon Che has spent the better part of two decades, with a few hiatuses, as the drummer (and only remaining original member) of Don Caballero, a mostly instrumental rock outfit from Pittsburgh, PA. The band’s history is riddled with lineup changes; they’ve been adding and subtracting guitarists almost since they formed in 1991. On the band’s latest album, “Punkgasm,” Che is joined by Jason Jouver on bass and Eugene Doyle on guitar. This Friday, Don Caballero will play at Reggies for a night of 1990s nostalgia. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s a common story. Band starts small, band finds critical acclaim, band breaks up. Musicians get old—then decide to relive their glory years by re-forming and going on that final tour. The ending, as we all know, is not particularly pleasant. At first glance, the Effigies, the Chicago punk band now back from an ‘80s grave, seem to have followed this tragic path. But as Chicago will see on Saturday night when they play at Reggies, they still have their stuff. Read the rest of this entry »

When sludge-rock progenitors the Melvins formed in a Seattle basement more than a quarter century ago, it’s a fair guess they never expected they’d keep at it so long, let alone sell VIP tickets to their concerts. Named after a widely loathed clerk at the grocery store where singer and general weirdo King Buzzo worked, the group started playing a mix of teenage favorites—Hendrix, the Who, and the ’80s hardcore punk canon. A few lineup changes later, they took a distinctive turn towards the slow, heavy, and droning, emerging as torchbearers for the nascent sludge-rock genre. With a guitar sound like sharpening an epoxy-covered pencil, funereal drums, and vocals somewhere between a blown speaker and a busted Lysol can, it’s fair to call them an antidote for New Wave. Their first two releases, “Six Songs” (subsequently expanded and re-released as “Eight Songs,” “10 Songs,” and “26 Songs”) and “Gluey Porch Treatments,” were regarded with particular reverence in Louisiana’s metal scene, inspiring bands like Eyehategod, Acid Bath, and Buzz*oven. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week my band, the Butts, played Reggies Rock Club. We’d never played a show at a “real” venue before—we were excited. It was 21+, so our large twenty-year-old fan contingent couldn’t come—but we were still excited. It was a free show; surely some people would come. The weather wasn’t so cold. It was right off the Chinatown Red Line stop. It would be a good show. We’d rock their socks off. Read the rest of this entry »

In 2006, the Salem Baptist Church in Pullman hosted a “Night of Terror”—one of those Halloween events some religious groups have to scare the crap out of kids. Only the things they use to scare them aren’t skeletons or ghosts, but abortions and homosexuals—because getting the former or being the latter presumably means you’re going straight to hell. You don’t even have to attend to take part in the horror.

This year, I hoped the event would once again take place—so that I could write about it in disgust, not because I actually support it—but alas, apparently negative publicity and public outrage have convinced the church to pull the plug (I don’t know for sure those are the reasons behind the move, but I’d like to think so). This left me without an article to write, but in retrospect, it’s much better this way. Read the rest of this entry »