10 Things Jesus Wants You To Know was the Northwest's largest zine for about a decade, this is version 2.0. I update constantly, so come back for more, your mom sure does. And please please please credit me and link back if you "borrow" my photos, then it isn't stealing!
Next week The Bronx will be playing CMJ with Seattle's Akimbo, I'd love to see that show! The Bronx will release their third album in less than a month, on November 11th. This week they released the first song from the album to the press as a preview, check out "Young Bloods" here. It's not totally rocking my world yet after two listens, but it's a good song, and dare I say, it has a bit of an Against Me! feel to it.
So Saturday night I cruised up to King Cobra to see The Bronx. I met up at the nearby Satellite with my friend Charlie for beers beforehand. We wandered over to the venue a little after 9pm, and to our surprise, The Valkyries had already played The Girls were already halfway through their set. Singer Brown was stripped down to his skivvies and the band was sweat-covered and rockin' out. I don't think I've seen the band play with the new line-up yet, but they were super energetic and fun. Since I broke my camera last week, I was borrowing one of Amy's, a wider format Kodak digital camera, which got pretty good results after I got the hang of it. Here's The Girls:
Up next were The Bronx. I'm pretty sure this was the first mixed show at King Cobra (all-ages plus a bar area for over-21 folks). The set up worked pretty good, the main floor area was all-ages, the main bar and all of upstairs were 21+. They had a chain link fence separating the two sections on the floor that gave an industrial vibe to it. The Bronx immediately tore into their set after they took stage. And they were on, they played all their hits from their two albums, focusing mostly on the faster stuff like "Heart Attack American" and "They Will Kill Us All," which both had the crowd all singing along and the singer diving out into the audience. Multiple times singer Matt Caughthran invited the audience to the stage to dance and a zillion kids jumped around before they were pushed off by security. Awesome. The energy level and positive feeling in the crowd was infectious, Caughthran began to just smile out at the crowd any time he wasn't singing and talked between songs about how great Seattle and the audience was, how much fun he has playing shows here. I haven't seen a singer smile so much on stage looking out at the audience since Jerry A of Poison Idea, Caughthran was just feeding off of the audience and then giving it back to us. Too often these days, you don't get that anymore, so it's kinda magical when it happens. A few pix:
Combine the retro power pop/frantic punk energy of bands like The Briefs with a healthy dose of rock'n'roll swagger and you run headfirst into Seattle band The Girls. These guys have been at it for years and it shows, but now, right now, they are on the verge of taken things up to the next level. They've got a new album due out next week and are kicking off a US tour with a fantastic show at King Cobra Saturday night for the hometown crowd. If you don't already know it, The Girls are a great live band, this show should be off the hook. Sample some of their music here.
Headlining the show will be these guys, The Bronx:
If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know I love the fucking Bronx. Their first album I think is one of the best this decade... and while I whined about their second album when it first came out being less punk and more rock, it's really grown on me since. The Bronx actually play Black Flag in the new Germs movie that's finally hitting the big screen, I can't wait to see it. Live they destroy, they will melt your face off with their heavy rockin' punk and soak you with their hard working sweat as the jump all over the stage and down into the crowd. I implore you to go to this show!
The Valkeries, The Girls and The Bronx Saturday, September 13th King Cobra, 916 East Pike St All-Ages, Bar w/ID, $12, 9pm
The first album by LA band The Bronx completely blew me away, it was a great mix of hardcore and rock that featured songs that were both hard and totally catchy. Their second album not so much, it was a bit less punk and more rock. I hated it at first, honestly, it was a big let down to me. But after repeated listens, it really grew on me and I began to like it a lot. It's really a different beast to be appreciated in a different way, but still, I loved the energy level of their first LP and it's become one of my favorite albums. Recently The Bronx has been on the Warped tour, which I won't go see, and their role as Black Flag in the Germs movie will finally see the light of day as "What We Do Is Secret" is finally getting distribution. They've also been recording and working on a new album. Well, actually two albums, reportedly the band is also recording a mariachi album and has added new members to fill out their mariachi band. Crazy. Meanwhile, the band released it's first song from the new electric album for free download via MySpace and it both rocks and is a promising for the energy level of the album to follow. Check it out, it's called "Knifeman".
Wanna catch the band live on the Warped tour? Their Northwest dates are below: August 8, 2008, Idaho Center Amphitheater in Boise, Idaho August 9, 2008, Gorge Amphitheater in George, Washington August 10, 2008 Columbia Meadows in Portland, Oregon
And for the curious, here's a video of the band doing a Mariachi version of one of their songs live:
