Ghoul
Gang X-Mas show review- December 18th, 2012 at the Magic Stick
Freedom, Retribution, Weed Nap,
Heat Lightning, From Hell, Build & Destroy, Face Reality, Ghoul Gang, and
Rzl Dzl
As a stacked local line-up, I just knew
I had to be at this. As such, I took the
day off work and caught a ride down there.
As I arrived, sound check for Freedom was just starting. Thankfully, I was right on time.
Freedom went on a couple of minutes
later, the first to do so. They blasted
through a quick set of youth crew-influenced powerviolence, or vice versa,
whatever is suited to the subjective definition of the band’s sound (in other
words, whichever YOU like more). Fast
and very short, the songs hardly eclipse a minute, if that. Some of the band’s newer song stretched on
for a bit longer than that, but make no mistake- this is definitely hardcore
that everyone has time for. Singer Denny
has a strong voice that manages to mix both the mile-a-minute powerviolence
sound with the rough, tough, slower youth crew sound. It’ll take one longer to fap than to listen
to a set by these guys, so no doubt, do the latter before the former, if at all
separately.
Next was Retribution, who have been
playing out more as of late, following a mild hibernation that has clearly led
to the band becoming far more energized.
The set they did this time around, though not as stellar as the ones
they’ve done recently (opening for Expire, Trial, and Twitching Tongues, respectively),
was still pretty solid. The material on
their “Consumed” 7” is always energetic live, and some of their newer stuff,
particularly the one about gay marriage and the moral clusterfuck churches seem
to be preoccupied with at the moment, are even harder-hitting. After a few years of sporadic activity and
only a demo released, it seems that Kenny Smith and Retribution are at long
last moving forward and accumulating much-deserved fans of their 90s-style
straight-edge hardcore.
Weed Nap followed after this,
jamming out their brand of funky, janky party punk. This was some weird music, yet it was some
very interesting stuff. Still in its
early development stages, I anticipate a decent EP to come out soon. Think garage, janky, funky, punky. Close enough.
After them came Heat Lightning, a
band play jam music in the punkiest way possible. This is definitely not music to have to read
the lyrics to or soak in all the vibes, art, and meaning of the band to, but it
is absolutely high quality, fun music to listen to. I was not disappointed with it, I’ll put it
that way. Some music is to be taken in
with absolute seriousness and the vibe/aesthetic to be fully absorbed, and
other music is meant to be taken lightly, to be enjoyed, and be played loudly
at parties. This is the latter, and I
couldn’t be happier with it. Jam these
jams.
After Heat Lightning was From Hell,
who radiated dark energy with their slower, demonic style of hardcore. Their brand of punk rock, though different
from the more positive and fun styles of their friends, was strangely
fitting. The rearing of a dark, ugly
sound has been a staple for Detroit for quite some time, and the current
harbinger of this sound is From Hell, who have been around since roughly 2010,
sludging it up with a demo and currently working on a 7”.
Build and Destroy came on next, and
seemed as though they had improved since I last took notice of them around two
years ago (at the Refuge benefit show in November ’10). Sporting a party-style 90s hardcore with a
subtle hip-hop influence, the band was very crowd-friendly, two-steps and gang
vocals all around- the locals definitely seemed to know the words to the
songs. This is fascinating, as the band
(to my knowledge, at least) has only a demo a good circulation of fans who
spread the word, from Detroiters to, uh… Philadelphians, I guess, would be the
word. These guys do live up to the hype,
so long as you understand that the music isn’t excessively serious or unique-
it’s just fun hardcore.
Next came Face Reality, who is one
of the best bands to come out of Michigan punk-wise in a long time. The band came out full-force, and save for a
couple moments where singer James’ voice went out, the band was totally on
point, largely opting to play the newer material, which is much heavier and
“harder”, so to speak. Crowd
participation was pretty strong, and people were singing moving for the
majority of the duration of the set (yours truly included)- the only time the
band stopped was to thank a few folks for their contributions to the scene, and
it was, all in all, a pretty energetic and united vibe in the room. Truly a sign of good things to come, and some
already here.
Ghoul Gang and Rzl Dzl closed out
the show, but due to my ride situation, I was unable to catch these two sets
(much thanks to Ryan Coleman of Heat Lightning for that ride!). However, the Ghoul Gang is not that unlike in
its punky jam band vibe, and Rzl Dzl is the more hardcore side of party punk
music- fun and light-hearted, and including Haroun Khan as a member.
Ultimately, the show drew a lot of
different faces (I am more of a “punker” than a hardcore kid, I suppose) and
truly drew them all together under one roof, for one purpose. All in all, a great example of a Detroit show
done right- I haven’t experienced an all-local show this awesome in quite some
time. This is how it’s
done.
-Aunty Social
