The Grave Reviews with Domestic Artillery

Where: All Asia Club, Cambridge

When: Saturday, December 18

Who: The Grave Reviews, Domestic Artillery

Rocks like: The Misfits, Strung Out, Alkaline Trio

                The Grave Reviews and Domestic Artillery put on one of the shortest shows I have seen in my young life. When I arrived at the All Asia there wasn’t a single soul inside apart from the bartender, who was also the owner of the place. It is important to note that I was not even close to being on time. The listing said 12 pm, so naturally I arrived at 12:40, expecting to see the opener up on stage or at least sound checking. I was disappointed by the silence, but I decided to stick around and see how things went. Although the time they had to play was limited, I was glad I hung in there.

                Domestic Artillery kicked it off without much warning or ado, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear a fast skate-punk sound infused with metal, along the lines of Strung Out. All the band members clearly knew their way around their instruments, including the singer with his voice. He ranged from melodic to gravelly to purely primal. A cover of “Linoleum” by NOFX was lovely as always, but the set was lacking in two things. Unfortunately they could not have been helped by the boys of Domestic Artillery. First, there was almost no audience, just a few friends and the Grave Reviews sitting at tables and at the bar. This was especially disappointing because these guys could have whipped up a serious pit given the right crowd. The other issue was that the set was just too short; I would have loved to hear more.

                Luckily the Grave Reviews wasted no time in jumping on stage and they kicked off with a song straight from the horror punk lineage called “Don’t Ask”. The lyrics about “burning bodies at the grocery store” and “the stuff of your nightmares” were belted in a deep melodic bellow while the rhythm section took off at light speed. This may have been my favorite song in the set as it combined Misfits-style imagery with an upbeat guitar riff that brought to mind parts of the Alkaline Trio album, “Good Mourning”. The set continued in similar fashion with the delightful injection of a couple Misfits tunes, “Astro Zombies” and “Saturday Night”, the latter being a personal favorite of mine. I couldn’t resist the urge to sing along with these classics.

                I look forward to seeing both of these bands again, hopefully at a venue where I can get out and mosh. This show felt like an appetizer, and now I’m champing at the bit to hear more. At this point, a full-length from either would be a heavenly gift, because I can’t get these bands out of my mind.--PS

Wanna know more about/hear music from the bands mentioned here? Here's the links you lazy bums:

The Grave Reviews

Domestic Artillery

Song Of The Week!

Alright here it is, your song of the week. It's a little number by the Misfits called Astro Zombies off their 1982 release Walk Among Us. The footage is from a show in 1997. I was inspired to put this up after I heard a cover of it at a horror punk matinee this past Saturday (review upcoming).



Now there is a lot of debate, especially on Youtube comment boards by people with names like xxMetallicaPanteraxx, about whether Danzig or Graves is the better singer (Graves is singing here, for those of us who didn't do their homework). In my opinion it doesn't matter, the music holds up on its own; and since when was punk rock about who has the most talent? But if you think I'm an idiot tell me why in a strongly worded letter, or just a comment on the post is okay too i guess.

On a side note, I submitted my application to pollute the airwaves today so hopefully you'll be listening to me next January on the internets. And keep an eye out for a review of that horror show in the next couple days.

Song Of The Week, Radio Show

Seeing as this is my first post, I'll give a little background on what's going on here. I will post a song every Monday, hopefully with video so you won't be too bored out of your skulls.

Also, I would like to plug my potential radio show on WTBU (the beat of Boston University!!). I will be having an hour session tomorrow of the show, which will eventually contribute to my demo tape and my application for a weekly time slot. Listen up, it could be the last time they let me on air. Here's the link for the station online so you can stream the madness from the comfort of your own home: http://wtburadio.org/

Anyways, with the shameless self-advertising out of the way, here's your Song Of The Week!

It's a pop-punk classic from Screeching Weasel called Cool Kids. The video isn't official, but still pretty damn cool.