When the Middle Aged Queers roll into town, you know the party is about to get started. They are a band I have been following for a while yet had not yet had the joy of experiencing live since they are on the West Coast and I missed their last show here (but dispatched FTA photographer Kevin who captured a wonderful evening which you can see here). Suffice it to say, this middle aged queer was MORE than ready to get down with some good old fashioned East Bay style pop punk. The show was bookended by support from American Television who opened and Fat Heaven who closed out the night, making for a night of excellent vibes and super big hooks.
American Television kicked things off and played a tight set, easily flexing their pop punk chops. And much to my delight, they took time to hit a cover of the Minor Threat classic “I Don’t Wanna Hear It” (complete with their singer holding a beer in his band as he shouted), making a perfect addition to the show. Long time NYC scene vets Fat Heaven played a slew of their classics like “Crybaby,” “I Am Trash,” and “Quarter Life Crisis,” ending out the night on a high note with some great sing along moments.
Though they played second of three bands, Middle Aged Queers were the absolute stars of the show; they fully channel the classic Lookout! sound of the 90s and made me feel like I could close my eyes and be transported back 30+ years to be standing at Gilman watching this show. Complete with Golden Girls themed “go fuck yourself” t-shirts, they really are the band I’ve been waiting for all along. Each and every song is a bop and with the bubbles flowing and the balloons bouncing, how could you not have fun?
Their stage banter is next level and song intros usually went along the lines of “this song is about dicks” and “this song is about butt stuff and stuff in butts” before singer Shaun “Shauners” Osburn asked “are you going to chant ‘butt stuff?'” which the crowd quickly obliged prompting him to declare “dreams do come true!” All you need to do is listen to their theme song and you’ll quickly get the gist of what they are all about; warning though, you’ll probably immediately fall in love.
I wanted to buy merch at the show, but I realized that I’ve already ordered all of it online! Shauners also personally sent me a postcard to invite me to the show for a very lovely and decidedly 90s touch that made me smile.
And while the band is hilarious and loads of fun—with cheeky, perfect merch paired with their danceable songs about cats and dicks and butts and all kinds of queer silliness—they do address serious issues along the way too, with songs calling out shitbag TERFs (“TERFs Up”) and phony Pride pandering by companies just looking to make a buck during June (“This Song Is Sponsored By Absolute Vodka”) for the complete package of a band that knows how to party but will also not take any of your (hetero) shit either. Like Shauners said, dreams really do come true!
Scroll down for pics of the show (photos by Kate Hoos)
Did someone say Sunday Funday? Damn right they did! Dad jokes aside, if there’s a dive bar to be had and some punk fucking rock to be heard, then I’m going to want to be there. Unfortunately working nights often gets in the way of that but there are the times I get lucky and I’m free to catch a banger lineup. Such was the case on a recent chilly Sunday night (will spring just get here already ffs) when I was actually off of work for the night and ready to hit the town. I headed over to see Shop Talk and Spite Fuxxx hit the stage….err um, floor, at Bootleg for a healthy dose of face melting and they did not disappoint. (Hood Rats from Montreal was also on the bill, but I missed them for a very Canadian reason, I was watching the women’s world ice hockey championship gold medal game and the game went into overtime. Canada ultimately beat the US which was not the result I wanted but alas, that’s the way the puck bounces!)
Shop Talk was just setting up when I arrived and they’d been a band on my list to check out for a while. I’m glad I finally saw them and I really enjoyed their set, fueled by Jon Garcia’s intense guitar playing and Jello Biafra-esque warble with solid backing by the hard hitting rhythm section of Tristan Griffin on bass/vocals with Alexander Perrelli behind the kit. I’ll definitely be keeping my ear to the ground for what they are up to next.
I’ve definitely said it in person before and absolutely in these pages before too, but in case you didn’t know, Spite Fuxxx is one of my favorite bands, no doubt about it. I absolutely love anytime I get to see them and getting a face full of snarl and ‘tude from MG Stillwaggon and crew. The band has had some recent lineup changes but they still pack the same chaotic one-two punch as they ever did and have been gigging around town with gusto, fresh off the release of their second album, Cum In Pieces. On this night they had plenty of trashy synth punk hits to pummel us with including fan favorite “Eat the Rich” and one of my favs from the new album, “Trust Punk Stomp.” And even though my team lost earlier in the night, after a good ripping from these fuxxx and I certainly left one happy bitch. They’ve always got something cooking in their punk rock lab so I’m definitely looking forward to more new tunes and shenanigans to come. Keep an eye on their social media for their goings on.
Scroll down for pics of the show (photos by Kate Hoos)
Valentine’s Day 2024 may have come and gone already, but love was in the air at Main Drag this past Friday night. Celebrating new releases and friendship alike, four bands of pals and BK music community stalwarts—A Very Special Episode, Nihiloceros, Desert Sharks and Leathered—took the stage with a festive spirit and a hard rock edge which sounds like the perfect Friday night to me!
Leathered kicked off the night and while not currently with a new release, they played plenty of bangers from their 2022 full length, A Reckoning, which was one of my favorite releases of that year. Nihiloceros brought their high energy punk pop fuzz to the room next, shredding through their brand new song “Skipper” which is part of their forthcoming album, Dark Ice Balloons, due out in May. While I did roll my eyes at their NOFX cover (sorry boys, but I’m just never going to get down with that, ha!) it was great catching up with their sound after several months of the work grind keeping me away from their shows. They also took a moment to raffle off a test pressing of the as of yet unreleased album which was won by fellow local musician, Roni.
Desert Sharks and A Very Special Episode recently teamed up for a split EP, DS+AVSE, a compact and concise offering with two songs from each band (read our review) themed around the four elements—earth, water, air and fire—and showcasing what makes each of them special. While I thoroughly enjoyed the recordings, hearing the songs played live always takes things to the next level for me, particularly when they are on the heavier end of the spectrum. Both bands put on power house sets, with “Siren Song” by Desert Sharks being a particular standout of the EP and the show. A Very Special Episode never fails to put on a wildly fun and intense set and they aren’t shy to spill right out into the crowd, always to the delight of their fans. The sonic pairing of these two bands both on record and live really, really works and I hope to see more joint shows and perhaps releases from them in the future.
The Brooklyn music community proves it over and over again that all you need is love. And rock n roll. And friends.
Scroll down for pics of the show (photos by Kate Hoos)
Desert Sharks with A Very Special Episode (photo by Jeanette D. Moses)
Desert Sharks, Brooklyn’s favorite gloomy grunge punks released a stellar EP last year, The Tower, and ahead of an impending tour to SXSW are releasing a split DS+ AVSE with fellow grungey BK band, A Very Special Episode. Having already released a video for the first single, “Deeper,” today they release a video for the companion track, “Siren Song,” and FTA is pleased to give you the exclusive first look!
The track finds the band in some of their darkest waters yet, leaning in to a slower, gloomgaze sound reminiscent of titans of that genre like Hum or Cloakroom, easily standing shoulder to shoulder with them. The guitars circle around and envelop the listener in a thick wall of sound while vocalist Stephanie Gunther hauntingly declares “I want to drown under the waves of your gaze.”
The companion video was directed by Brendan McKnight and offers a chilly glimpse into the forbidding world of “Siren Song,” a place you might not make it back from if you aren’t careful. Watch the video in full below.
Brooklyn’s own “surf-rock-on-Neptune grooves” art punk extraordinaires, Tea Eater, had a BIG 2023: gigging all around town, releasing their excellent debut album, Obsession, and embarking on their first European tour, spreading their special brand of noise that filters through the anxiety of modern life while “inviting you to shed your baggage and transmute your neurosis into something worth dancing about.” Wasting no time and keeping busy, they are heading right into the action in 2024, hitting us with a brand new video from one of the stand out tracks from the album, “Has Been,” which was shot, directed and edited by their past collaborator, Emily Hughston Hoffman.
Frontwoman Tarra Thiessen had this to share about the song/video:
The song is based on the movie Ladies & Gentlemen the Fabulous Stains and some of the verse lyrics are taken from lines from the movie— ‘Who get s a cut when there is no pie,’ and ‘Who do you trust when in line to die,’ and the ‘suckers’ bridge is inspired by this scene. Basically relating that picture of being a new band in the music industry in the early 80s to today and seeing how not much has changed (with how the industry is still set up to exploit artists, the pressure to have growing numbers on social media/Spotify, and stay ‘buzzy’ even if it feels like they’re only there for surface level internet points and don’t always have the utility value to get people out to shows or support you financially). The song is also a play on the word ‘has been’ since the internet content machine makes everything you create feel so disposable and makes you feel like a ‘has been’ faster than ever.
She further elaborated:
But it’s also totally fine! Brooklyn really has been fine, fun, and has a very special and supportive community. There are also so many positive ways to connect with people more directly these days on other platforms like Twitch/Discord/E-mail lists. So even though the lyrics of this song lean towards the snarky side, I am very grateful!
This is a sentiment many (or most of us) can certainly relate to and Thiessen and co perfectly capture the uncomfortable reality of sitting with those feelings and wondering what the hell we’re gonna do next while still acknowledging the good we can find amongst the static, too. Take an exclusive first look at the brand new video below:
