A homecoming of sorts...

Bob and I made the treck up to lovely Denton, Tx. to the Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studio to see The Apeshits, Birthday Suits, and Marked Men ply their punk, and/or rock wares Friday night. It turned out to be one of the best shows I've seen in a long time. Having seen the Men only once before their year-long break I was ready for them to move my ass, and they have only gotten better. One of the tightest bands of the rock and roll underground in my opinion, with the added bonus of power-pop hooks played with punk intensity. But you've heard about them before. When we got to the club Austins' Apeshits were on and based on the couple of songs I managed to check out I'd love to see more. They had the same kind of intensity but a wilder , noiseier, and more playful/sloppy attack. I was jealous of the fun they seemed to be having up there. At least one of these cats was in the Carpetbaggers, and since my good buddy "Wild Bill" Ivy digs em I need to delve deeper. (The mans got taste!)

But the guys who blew me away that night were The Birthday Suits. Comprised of two former members of Sweet J.A.P. the Suits have a very full sound when you consider it's just a drumset, a guitar, and an amp turned up really loud for that "natural" distortion we all know and love. I can see how garage and/or punk purists might cringe at what these guys are doing but let them. It's their loss. I was trying to categorize them somehow (I hate labels but they are an excellent shorthand for describing music), and phrases like "jammy-garage" and "space punk/punk space" didn't seem to be sufficient but you might get a vague idea. The drummer did and amazing job of laying a strong foundation(not your typical punk beats but very rocking) for guitarist and vocalist Hideo to alternate between short bursts of structured pop-like intensity, and leg-kicking punk rock and roll swagger. He was flying all over the stage, even running up to the wall and kicking off in a 180 turn all the while continuing to bring the noise. I wish Bobs camera-phone had managed some better pics of any of these bands but we'll have to settle for the really blurry one of Hideo (top/right) and the grafitti from Rubber Gloves restroom( bottom/left) for now. We think it says "I f***ed your Dog" under the tag. I stole the other two pics from various sites.

This night made me remember why I loved living in Denton. I hadn't been there for a show in a couple of years at least and I talked to a bunch of old friends, most of whom weren't even there for the show, and some of whom live here in Dallas. There's this crazy Extreme Wrestling League in Denton that I've got to check out...