North Carolina has a pretty heady history within hardcore’s trajectory. With Corrosion of Conformity developing an international following, the state can be figured as an important locale for the merger of aggressive musics. Double Negative won’t ever hit the big time, but some of its members have worked with CoC dudes in the past. And hearing anything from the group’s all-too-scant discography explains why. Comprising veterans of the hardcore scene reaching back to the eighties, DN is the proper East Coast foil to Keith Morris’ OFF! While the former Circle Jerk and his crew hit festivals and rack up media accolades, DN is more likely to be found in a basement, rattling around with the barely legal set, throwing down hardcore with a surprising range. “Mein Trappe,” which was initially issued on a set of demos from 2006 and eventually “The Wonderful And Frightening World of…” a year later, opens with a bit that sounds like Stiff Little Fingers’ “Alternative Ulster” before sprinting to its conclusion in American fashion. Of course, the entirety of the group’s output doesn’t cop rough trade from the wrong side of the Atlantic. DN’s pair of “Hardcore Confusion” singles take on some noisenik tendencies reminiscent of out-acts like Brainbombs. “Writhe” features a rather traditional song structure for about a minute and a half before the band starts churning out some circular riff void of melody, relying only on rhythmic tenacity to get over. “Face Jam” isn’t quite as radical, but maybe more vicious. Keeping itself low-key and performing at DIY venues, DN isn’t bound for glory. But the tactic inevitably provides for memorable live sets. Chicago locals Broken Prayer, Sea of Shit and Cold Lovers open. (Dave Cantor)
May 21 at Mousetrap, 8pm. $7.
Related Stories
Shock Value: A Preview of Last Fantastic Nasty at Quenchers I get the sense that Last Fantastic Nasty are still in that “figuring who we are” phase, where you’ve realized you can get attention by shocking people, but you start thinking long and hard about whether or not you want to. And they do have the musical chops to do well: the songs are metallic and complicated and compelling, even…
Never Give Up: A Preview of Fantastic Negrito at Martyrs' When Fantastic Negrito emerged onto the music scene in 2015, he looked to all the world like a new, emerging artist. In fact the man born Xavier Dphrepaulezz—winner of that year’s Tiny Desk Contest for his song and video “Lost in a Crowd,” which showcase a sound that builds upon the blues, but didn’t conform to most people’s ideas about…
Do It Again: A Preview of Brian Wilson at Horseshoe Hammond While today former bandmate Mike Love leads a group calling itself the Beach Boys, that band features no Brian Wilson. Wilson’s group, on the other hand, includes original Beach Boys member Al Jardine as well as late-prime-era Beach Boy Blondie Chaplin, and is jaw-droppingly facile at recreating the Beach Boys sound.
Especially For You: A Preview of the Smithereens at the Memorial Opera House Serious music scholars all, the Smithereens distilled their musical loves into something that ultimately sounded like nobody but them. Diken points to Gary Lewis and the Playboys as an influence; it’s worth noting that the studio cats who played on those records—immortal pop tunes like “Count Me In” —included Leon Russell and drummer Hal Blaine.
RECOMMENDED
