Pissed Jeans - Cloak/Dagger - The Wayward -- Rock'n'Roll Hotel - April 16 2010

The Wayward - It looks to be a punk lineup tonight with whatever years of history can bring to the form in 2010. This band begins with a decent enough sound. They are a power trio with the guitarist doing the vocal duties. The playing is good and there is an experimental punk/hardcore sound that I have heard before but can't really place. The vocals and melodic lines are a bit of a letdown for me, so they can keep trying to work on the songs. But if the kids want some dark abrasive punk, they will get a decent set from these guys.

Cloak/Dagger - This the second time I have seen this four-piece from Virginia. Their sound impressed me even more this time around. Tey go full blast, straight ahead with strong throaty vocals. The rhythm section is to notch and the guitar sound again creates some of the most interesting tones I've heard out of a punk band. The second cut sounded like some lost Radio Birdman cut which is very welcome to my ears, as Australian punk is some of the finest music out there. Rapid fire delivery with few breaks show a well prepared band that wants to deliver the goods. They did and this was an excellent set.


Pissed Jeans - For a Subpop band, they sure don't have much of a Web presence. But I guess that may be punk dedication. This band is a heavy muscular four-piece. The music is loud and tough with some almost Flipper like elements within (nowhere near that weird, though). The music is dense with industrial under currents which are nice. I wasn't blown away, but there is some sneaky effectiveness underneath the initial bludgeonery. The band went over well and it was refreshing to see a crowd get into the music with some sort of pogo combined with metal head bobbing as opposed to the mosh pit which should disappear from life. Intriguing band and one I will need to study further before I come to a final verdict. But I am glad I heard them tonight.

Quote of the Night: from the Thai restaurant earlier... "Out of all the things on the menu, you're getting the chicken fried rice? Wow."