Vacant Company at Catfarm (photo by Kate Hoos)

 

There’s few things I love more in this life than a killer house show. There’s just something about being in those intimate, most DIY of spaces that is like nothing else in the world for me. Vacant Company is a band that I first heard at another house show just about a year ago (see pics) and this is what I had to say then: Vacant Company…played a set that was nothing less than explosive from start to finish. They hail from Raleigh, NC (though their singer splits time between BK and Raleigh) and were unflinchingly political and beautifully intense. With hints of early Fugazi, and the clear influence of Slint in their sound, they also very much reminded me of that particular style of 90s post hardcore that had a bit of an artcore bent ala a band like Swing Kids. This band would have been right at home on Dischord in that era—hell they still would be today!  And I still stand very much behind that assessment.

 

Ever since that first show I’ve been wanting to see them play again, but given that 3/4 of the band lives in another state, they don’t play in Brooklyn a lot. My schedule also tends to be pretty packed in advance and the show was only announced a week ahead of time which is usually a no go for me on such short lead time, but by some miracle, I magically had a window where I wasn’t working or otherwise committed to something else. Even in a week where big indie rock stars were in town aka Phoebe Bridgers—who yes, I did see play and yes, she absolutely does put on a great show—there was still nothing else I was more excited for than seeing Vacant Company.

 

 

Almost no one puts on a show as powerful as this band does, not even indie rock royalty (sorry Phoebes), and their set was just as incendiary as it had been the first time I saw them play. This time being even better given that I was very familiar with a lot of the songs already and with the added bonus of several new songs in the mix too. While I do wish I could see this band play regularly, I think part of what makes their shows so special is probably because there are long gaps in between when I can see them play so I savor it more and I find myself locked in in a way that I don’t always find myself with bands I get to see all the time. I got chills during the first song of their set, the blazing condemnation of our current society and the lasting toxicity of colonization, “Decolonize,” and that pretty much set the tone for the rest of the night. I was excited to hear a good amount of new material as well, and the band tells me that they are hoping to get into the studio this year to lay the tracks down. I’m very hopeful for that too.

 

 

Noise punk band, Gun, kicked off the show and they had been totally unfamiliar to me before the show. But bands like this are the exact reason I push myself to always make it on time to things because I always end up discovering the best new music that way. I very much enjoyed their noisy approach and the drummer nerd in me couldn’t help but marvel at their drummer who plays traditional grip which is a definite rarity for punk drummers and not something I usually see in someone who hits so hard! Afterwards we chatted for a few minutes and they told me about their jazz background which totally makes sense (I have a marching background which is why I used to play trad grip too) and I think really adds to the noisy quality of the band, with fills that a more rock oriented drummer without jazz training might not think to employ. In any case, I really dug this band and I’m very much looking forward to seeing them again, as well as hearing the new material they mentioned they are in the process of recording. They have a three song EP out currently that has been a nice holdover for the time being. 

 

 

Thanks to the good fortune of working in music venues, I get to see A LOT of live music, almost every night of the week. It ranges widely on who/what I may see on any given night (pop or jazz or EDM or indie or hip hop or really anything under the sun if I’m working; generally punk or noise or indie if I’m going to a show for fun) and I always enjoy getting to check out new stuff on the job or getting access to a big show everyone is excited about. But while all of that is cool—I’m forever grateful for it, and would never take that for granted—I think it’s no surprise at all to anyone who reads this blog that my heart and soul is with the punk bands at the house show and it always will be.

 

Scroll down for pics of the show (photos by Kate Hoos)

 

GUN

 

VACANT COMPANY