Live Music Lives in the Basements and Back Rooms of Our Souls.

With the closing of Maxwell's and the continuing restoration of the nearby Meatlocker. Finding a local spot to see your favorite bands has become harder and harder these days. With mounting tolls, speeding tickets and empty gas tanks adding up. I decided to shorten my trip and head west to Montclair to see what everyone was not talking about when it came to The Batcave.

Désir Decir opened the night on a very high note. The trio hailing from Union and Jersey City have been playing out regularly in support of their debut EP "Mechanics" recently released on Keanry's Killing Horse Records. I think I've missed several shows due to monsoon rain, hurricanes and doomsday prophecies.  Lucky for me, there was no impending doom being reported on this Wednesday night. The bands live presence and performance are definitely praise worthy. It's bands like Désir Decir that reenforce my love for live music and make leaving the apartment on a weekday night a rewarding experience.
Desir Decir Facebook
Killing Horse Records  Purchase "Mechanics" Here

Next up was local heroes the Life Eaters. I've seen the band several times in the past. 

Each time I left feeling the venue lacked the space and/or ambiance deserving of such amazing energy. Well, maybe it wasn't the amount of space after all. Perhaps a dirty, no frills, no advertisement, broken toilet basement was just what the band need to perfectly display their gift from bombast and savagery. The five piece band featuring current and former members of Désir Decir, No Pasarán, Merel, Rye Coalition and the co mastermind of Killing Horse Records. Plain and simple this bands brand of testosterone driven Rock & Roll is so satisfying. There's an incredible energy about Life Eaters that cannot be contained. The band should have their debut EP out soon on Killing Horse. In my opinion, it couldn't possibly come soon enough.

Life Eaters Facebook

It takes a lot of heart to stand up on a stage with nothing but a song in your heart and an acoustic in your hands. His stripped down whispered style reminded me at times of acts such as Ween and the Front Bottoms but overall was a bit of a stretch for me being I was not provided with a comfy chair and a stiff drink. I never bothered to remove my camera from it's cozy during the set. Their was a certain intimacy about his performance I wouldn't dare disrupt.Though I can respect the art of the song. This really wasn't my thing. 

Closing an already stellar night on a high note were Jersey City's Overlake. It had been quite some time since I last saw the band perform at Asbury Lanes for the annual Dromedary Records Camelfest. That night the bands performance left my jaw and a big, soggy pile of drool on in the gutters of the Bowling Alley/Performance space. Add to it their album "Sighs" one of 2014 most rewarding releases and I felt somewhat lucky to be there to support the start of their tour in such an intimate setting. Tom, Lysa and Scotty make for a powerful trio. They create a soundscape that is introspective and melancholy. Though the bands sound has it share of key influences. I can't help but feel they listened to their share of 

My Bloody Valentine. Prior to the show I sat outside with Tom and talked about the first time we met. At the time, he was the drummer for No Pasarán. Since then, I've witnessed him become one of the best multi instrumentalists in the scene. Playing guitar and keys with The Everyman and singing, playing guitar and writing for Overlake. Though his personality seems to avoid the spotlight. His talent shines bright enough to warrant a long stay. 

Best of luck to them on the tour. 

Overlake  Facebook

Killing Horse Records  Purchase "Sighs" Here

Thanks to all the bands and the people who run the Batcave. I can see this place becoming my permanent residency. Until then. James Damion

Feral Babies Final Show - Full Set

If you're familiar with the blog you'll know that Dave and I have a mutual admiration for Tampa's Feral Babies. I was lucky enough to see them live and hang out with them a couple of times and I can honestly say they're some of the best people around. Unfortunately for me, I was unable to book my private jet to attend the bands final gig. Thanks to modern technology and Christian Costello of the band Station Cases, It's all here for your listening and viewing pleasure. Thanks to Christian and The Feral Babies for the music, 

the memories and the good times. I'm looking forward to new projects, side projects 

and post projects. Until then, enjoy the set. James Damion

Christina the Astonishing - I am not the American Teen

After witnessing these kids perform an out of control set at Montclair's Meatlocker I half heartedly decided to take the bands CD home with me.

Turns out this was a lot better than I expected. Five songs of well played, well produced youthful anthems. Fast, driving and relentless punk with impressive musicianship.
Five songs that come in under ten minutes. "Bike",
"I am not the American Teen", "Null", "The Graak", and "Another Revolution" each pack  plenty of punk rock punch and aggression.

As I watched Christina the Astonishing play live the other night. I remember thinking,
"These kids look as if their still working on their freshman year of high school."
The bands bass player looked as if he was pushing twelve years. But in listening to these five tracks I'm reminded of how that was the age me and my friends were getting into Punk Rock and Hardcore. Going to shows and starting bands. If this is any inclination into what the future holds for the band. We all have a lot to look forward to. James Damion

Christina the Astonishing  Official

Scenes From a New Brunswick Basement Show; Starring Deep Sleep

When I caught wind that Baltimore's Deep Sleep were playing a show in New Brunswick NJ, I almost immediately shot a text over to my partner in crime Dave to see if I could will him off the couch to go see one of our favorite, current HardCore bands. Though Dave is always up for a drive to the moon to dig for records, it's a rare occasion when I can get him to drag himself to a show.

As we arrived at the non de-script house in any street New Brunswick, we noticed a small gathering of Punks and HXC kids gathered outside. It brought us both back to the days when house shows were more prevalent and it felt as if every New Jersey basement was filled with kids, a roster of bands who were to later become legends and a table with records that were sold slightly below price.

As we opened the cellar doors and walked down into the cold concrete fortress we felt an immediately good vibe.
Absent were the pertinacious nature that goes along with a lot of shows these days.
Pushing past the mattress that served as both a door and noise insulation were we caught Radio Exile in mid set.

The set was sharp and the attending crowd seemed to enjoy every note. As the band finished up and the crowd dispersed in different directions the space opened up to a merch area and some couches next to a spray painted wall that read "R.I.P. Court Tavern" a stark reminder of the clubs recent closing. Dave and I headed over to the table which was manned by Deep Sleeps frontman Tony.

We were all settled in by the time Real Cops started there set. I made my way to the front of the crowd to get an up close look. The band tore through a ripping set of Hardcore that had both me and Dave grinning from ear to ear. There was a certain loose dissonance about their sound that we both found appealing. Thoroughly enjoyable on all levels.
They really brought me back to some of the things I loved about HardCore in the 90's. After their set Dave almost immediately headed back to the table to grab a copy of the bands demo. You can check out his review right Here, Later that night I spoke to their guitarist and singer and found out they were located nearby in Jersey City. I definitely look forward to seeing them again.

When I asked the host about the following band he told me they were a thrash outfit and that they'd probably play about fifty songs during their ten minute set. Looking back,
I think he was right.    
Attitude Era took about five times longer to set up than they did to actually play. Once they did play it was total chaos with the singer and guitarist throwing rolls of oversized toilet paper and launching into the crowd repeatedly. It was hard to contain their energy or noise in the small space. Within a few minutes of screaming, jumping and pouncing, it was all over. Once again we thought, "In the time they set up and broke down they could have toured on that set.

I think it's needless to say we were really there to see Deep Sleep. I first heard the band about a year ago through Dave on one of record store recons to Allentown and have been catching up since.
The Baltimore based band has become one of if not our favorite Hardcore act playing today. Knowing that they were finally coming to the area created quite a bit of excitement for these old men.

As the band was plugging in I gave the bands guitarist Nick some well deserved praise on his awesome Mega City Four shirt. It seemed to really make his day that someone just might like the band as much as he did. Here I am standing there waiting for this band to put me in to orbit and instead of worrying about his tunage or feedback he's having his day made by some dude who shares his love for things like MC4 and the Doughboys. Unreal!!! Suddenly it all came to that moment. Tony had fixed the issues he was having with his mic and it was blast off.  I was in fucking orbit. Lately I've really been letting the music completely wash over me and not let any shyness or rhythmic issues stop me from rocking the fuck out and having one of my favorite bands go nuts less than a foot away from me brought on the possession.

Deep Sleep have an amazing energy and made a quick and lasting impression on the crowd. HardCore can often get way too serious with it's subject matter, testosterone driven sound and tough guy image but this was a band that were there to have fun and they looked as if they had a ton of it.
The huge Descendents influence didn't hurt one bit.  Everybody was on point on this particular night and we felt lucky to be a part.

As we were about to leave we loaded up on records and tour posters. Before I could head out Nick grabbed me with a smile and said his proper goodbyes while handing me some tapes from his side project Kent State. I'm going to go listen to them now and let you know what I think. Until then, check out some Deep Sleep  Here .
James Damion