Longhairs and outlaws
Boy, can my man
Twitch throw a party. A ton of folks piled into Milestones to dig another one
of his shows starring The Pietasters Friday night. I got there in time to catch The Flower City Knuckleheads play it
nice and sloppy. The drums were nice and loud, but otherwise the band played
unabashed, uncluttered, unfettered punk rock — which is actually just good ol’ rock ‘n’ roll from an era when bands and fans needed a
wake up call amidst the polyester and blow. Dig The Knuckleheads and you’ll
hear what’s important.
The Hoboz followed with a shaky start but the horns sounded kinda cool. The Rancid cover was a good song but
unnecessary. There’s enough talent in that band to pull off their
own stuff. In fact, that goes for every band, goddammit
— no more covers. Do what real geniuses do; steal a riff, change the key, add
your own words, and laugh at anybody that later says, “Dude, that sounds like
the Stones.”
After a Saturday
night convincing children the beast wasn’t going to get them I went to the Spy
Bar to check out 40 Rod Lightning.
I’d heard good things and since they were on the bill with Krypton 88, I knew it’d be alreeet.
Well, they knocked me
out. It was a beautiful blend of honky tonk and the
kind of Americana/country made popular by longhairs and outlaws. I threw darts
and danced my ass off. These boys 2/4’d it too much for a fella
to get his two-step on, but me and my honey danced
plenty; danced plenty to real country music in a bar on State Street. Best night I’ve had out in
a while. Like The Bottle Rockets? Then you’ll love these guys.
So you can bitch
about the winters or brag about how Rochester’s
“made for living.” Whatever. We’ve got a new band here
that plays some of the best country music I’ve heard live in a long, long, long
time.
This article appears in Oct 18-24, 2006.
