No Friends

Time to set off the pit. No Friends is the new band that is setting the hardcore world on it's ear. Featuring 3/4 of the pretty much dormant New Mexican Disaster Squad, you'll dig this if you liked them or their current franchises Gatorface and Virgins. Oh, wait! Did I mention that Tony from Municipal Waste is fronting this little combo? While I never really got NMDS, I fucking love The Waste. They have been getting serious play at JS-NYC HQ of late, much to the delight to the my neighbors. It's important to point out that while Municipal Waste thrash with wild abandon, No Friends take the hardcore road that bands like Paint It Black do so well. It's definitely on some Dag Nasty/Descendents/GBs shit and most assuredly awesome. No Idea is the label that pays them and Var and Tony must be stoked. It's not just a recording/project band either. The Waste are pushing their new record Massive Aggressive hard, but No Friends are still trying to do some shows around various Fests and whatnot. I'd go out of my way to see them live when and if you could, but in the meantime pick up No Friends here from the lovable men and women of No Idea.

New No Friends tracks!

Are you like me? Well I hope not, but if you like yourself some hardcore of the older (ie: good) variety, with perhaps a little thrash added for good measure, No Friends may be your pair of worn Reebok hightops. Comprised of 3/4 of the late New Mexican Disaster Squad and helmed by Tony from RVA thrashers Municipal Waste, No Friends are definitely bringing the ruckus in an old school way.

There's a record coming down the pike later on this summer on No Idea, but tide yourself over in the interim with a tasty new track, courtesy of their social networking engine. It's called Have You Ever Heard Of Aspirations. Check it out here.

R

Live: Off With Their Heads, For Science, Measure (SA), Virgins, Monikers @ Tommy's Tavern 9.28.8

It's always a pleasure to be so cynical, yet so optimistic. I looked at the flyer for this show, and figured: ok, 8pm doors on a Sunday, there's no possible way I could show up at ten and still see the first band, right? Well, I was correct, but I didn't really expect to see The Monikers on when I rolled into Tommy's Tavern. I did see them, and they were absolutely great. It didn't hurt that the lovely (and fabulous smelling, incidentally) Hallie Unlovable danced in front of me the whole set. It did, however, beg the question as to what the fucking order of the bands would be, as it sure didn't seem to be as advertised.

A quick check of the bike and a run-in with the awesome Sarah Evers later. I posted up to see who would be up next. As luck would have it, it was The Measure (SA), whose most recent release you may have read about recently. If it was ever in dispute that I am a lecherous old man, it was definitely asserted by the presence of Lauren Measure and that cut-off Radon t-shirt she insists on torturing me with. Blame Hallie for fanning the flames. Oh, and the music was good, too. The sound could have been better, and the second guitar player could spend less time jumping around like it was a Gorilla Biscuits show in '88 (don't get me started on the neck tattoos) but they put on a good show. It was kind of hard to hear what they actually played, but they were definitely fan favorites. I'd like to actually hear them next time.

The bill now seemed to be upended definitively, as For Science were up next. While they seem like decent people, and the presence of various Ergs, Steinways, Unlovables, etc. seemed to speak to them being well-liked, but I was just as underwhelmed with them the fourth time as I was the first. It may be the fact that they have a singer who just sings. There is no reason why that should occur in this century. I will give a pass to Pink Eyes from Fucked Up!, but unless you are David Lee Roth, learn an instrument. No reason why these guys should be playing right before the headliner, unless they booked the show. Even then, it's a hard sell. The boys just aren't all that exciting, especially at midnight on a Sunday. Jim Testa seemed to agree, as he made me envious by sleeping through their entire set. I only wish I had grabbed that chair first.

Finally, after clearing the entire backline and taking forever to set up, Off With Their Heads took the floor. Immediately, the room turned into a maelstrom of the unwashed. It's fun to watch, but somewhat less appealing from an olfactory point of view. I could also quibble about the twenty-five minute set, but there was very little in the way of banter, and we did get a pretty decent cross-section of songs. Zack Rivethead is on guitar for this tour. He certainly hasn't gotten any worse on the old Les Paul. If this show was any indication. I'm pretty excited to see the Dear Landlord/OWTH dates in November.

I'm exhausted, so no Silent Barn for me tonight, but I should be out for Monikers/Virgins/Get Bent show tomorrow. Click the appropriate links for more info.

See you at the rock show!

R