Emergency vehicles with sirens wailing up and down Hamilton avenue in front of The Comet were barely noticeable until someone said "Is it me or is an awful bunch of emergency vehicles out for a Thursday night?" The question got no answer. The people are desensitized to the cities violence and danger alike. As night falls on the Queen Shitty, it will take until morning to see the box scores of violence from the previous night. Who shot/killed who. Cincinnati is a war zone. Everyone is a potential threat, casualty or perpetrator.
Despite the current street war, The Comet had a great crowd of enthusiastic listeners to see the re-based in Cleveland punk band, Kill The Hippies and their comrades, Swirley In The Fryer who not only share a drummer but shared a van too... A van that broke down just as they arrived. The future aka 'Futch' is [already] broke.
SLUG SALT, a three-piece hardcore/punk band with dual male and female vocals started the show and played a great set of blasting anarcho-piece punk. Todd Utley (Subsets) made the strong comparison to the long defunct BLATZ, which was a good call... I kept thinking about D.I.R.T myself but the comparison only adds to the urgency that is needed to catch this band as soon as possible. I was offered a CD from the Zviles after Slug Salts set, but I stupidly declined citing that I want a Slug Salt CD more.
I had my doubts about a four band bill at The Comet. By no means is The Conet small... It's a comfortable and solid place to play, but the level of organization that was given to this night is quite remarkable. Slug Salt and the Zvilles shared members and equipment with the bonus of a frontman in the Zvilles. Frontmen, or 'lead singers' are just jot around like they use to be... They are a endangered RNR species... THE ZVILLS reminded me of the legendary Local band THE MUZZIES with a bit more of THE MISFITS, the anarcho peace-punk thing and DC Hardcore. The lead singer sported a devil-lock too! I should have gotten that Zvilles CD I passed up earlier but it's not a rock and roll show without at least one regret. Like Slug Salt, The Zvills played a fast, short and intense set adding to the success of the earlier dread of the four-band-bill. It is possible to have four bands at The Comet— if you organize it right!
Last summer at 'Wit-Fest' the ultra team of Kill The Hippies and SWIRLY IN THE FRYER (who share drummers) hit WIT-FEST 3. Two bands in one can! One broken van... I spent much of Swirlys set trying to figure out why there were loose bandanas placed over the microphones Some sorts of spits-screen' was the best answer I came up with... I don't think movement in excess is important to a good performance... But Swirly were verily intense reminding me of pre-Apache Dropout band, John Wilkes Booze... Like a mix of Steeley Dan and Captain Beefheart. I procured a Swirly CD with the few remains nag singles in my wallet. After all, they had a broken van, and I wanted a CD. I didn't take it as a joke, nor did I think they even knew it at the time, but the next day I went to listen to the CD but the jewel case was empty. FUCKING GENIUSES!!! Well played Swirly!
I'm not sure how much more I can say about KILL THE HIPPIES that I haven't consistently said throughout our relationship, Max Bender said it best repeating the mantra of The Neus Subjex: "Kill The Hippies are the best band EVER!" I must mention that the current line-up of KTH is a move toward the hardcore side... I've said that before and I'm saying it again... KTH are now releasing music at an almost regular schedule, of which I am fine with. Their set this night was breakneck fast... The crowd stood before the band ready for sonic execution... Heard some newer cuts from their latest LP and some recent hits like "Dildo" and "My Pussy Will Make You Hot, My Cock Will Drive You Crazy." KTH played with an urgency that was definitely apparent with the van issue being on their mind. The van situation would workout though... As things do... The razors edge between good times and bad times looks non-existent sometimes but it's the line we are all walking. It may seem fucky but KTH were the one who pioneered that edge so the rest of us could play with the whole concept of fun... We are fearful amateurs.
From the road, Morte/KTH writes:
"Cinncinnatti, 2015: now it can be told. Had a great time with everybody playing the Comet Bar with Slugsalt, Zvilles, and
Swirly in the Fryer . Also got to see Shawn Abnoxious and John Lee. Huge shout outs and thanks to Brian Landis, Jody, and Kentucky Mike for all of the hospitality, patience, and wrench turning due to our van breakdown on Thursday. You put us up, entertained us, kept us swimming in beer, fed us, got greasy, and made endless trips to three different parts stores. Without Kentucky Mike, we would've been dead in the water. We got the van running just in time to make our show in Chattanooga at sluggo's north vegetarian cafe (late, but they let us take the final slot). It was worth all the effort - a nice big pile of sweaty punks helped keep our fire lit. Thanks be to Josh from Queerwolf for letting us all crash at his place. Sad part: van still has some issues with the rear transmission seal - so it got a little dicey through the mountains and we had to stop a lot to top it off and maintaining a slower speed than we would've liked. Thus we missed the early evening show at Used Kids in Columbus (show was over at 9pm). Thanks and apologies to our Cbus droogies and droogettes and a big thanks to Jah Nada for setting it up. Glad we made it back without a tow truck though. Swirley in the Fryer are solid dudes and natural borne road dogs. It was not so shitty to be crammed in a metal box with them for three days."