Nothing like a sunny day to visit the bowels of the basement of Sound Control for some grimy sludge and hardcore from a bunch of miscreants. First up today at the ungodly early hour of 4:30 PM are Bury’s own Pist who impress early on with their mixture of Eyehategod swagger and Mancunian grit. Guitarist John Nicholson churns out slabs of metallic blues while David Lee Rowlands shrieks manage to shake up the early goers.
Unfortunately Siege Mentality completely fail to capitalise on Pist’s momentum. The ex-Iron Witch mob trade in generic hardcore punk with plenty of spit but no polish. The quintet’s interchangeable throwaway compositions all follow the well-worn post Discharge hardcore punk template and are forgotten straight after they are aired.
Thankfully Tombstones get us back on track. Sticking to the tune low and play slow ethos the Norwegians win the audience back with their primordial slabs of noise ‘King Of Daze’ and a storming cover of Melvins classic ‘The Bit’ which have the audience eating out of their hands.
King Parrot are aptly named because they have plenty of squawk but so little of substance. Their performance ignites a decent size pit but the irritating screeching of vocalist Youngy is greatly off putting, as is his moronic stage banter and insistence on soaking the first couple of rows with water. Their warp speed racket sounds allows some to get their mosh on but the band come across as sexually repressed Neanderthals’ with no memorable songs to speak of.
Weedeater do not fuck around. These deranged Louisiana rednecks slam into their set with a frightening vigour. Dave “Dixie” Collins is a cross-eyed lunatic screeching out his lyrics while drummer Travis Owen slams his kit tossing his sticks around and kicks his high hat all while continuing to play without missing a beat. Numbers like ‘Weed Monkeys’ are impossible to resist such is their reckless delivery and visceral delivery. These trailer park titans came to throw down and impress with a watertight set of potent sonic hits which leaves the audience deliriously happy and hungry for another fix.
WORDS BY ROSS BAKER
