I Breathe the Underground

OMFG BTMI!!!

How do you set the music media on fire in, like, two seconds? Only play all-ages shows that cost $10 or less and give away all of your albums. For free. If you want to take it a step further, put out six (sort of) full-lengths in as many years. 

Not the best business model ever conceived, but it's the straight shit. Bomb the Music Industry! is in it for the love of the game, and I recently had the chance to check these guys out at the Asian Man Records 15th Anniversary Festival. To be honest, they weren't high up on my list of bands to see...but in their defense, they were up against the likes of Slapstick, the Broadways, Alkaline Trio and the Lawrence Arms. I got lucky and caught their set before the Broadways show and wanted to dedicate a separate post to these guys. 

Jeff Rosenstock features a rotating cast of characters in BTMI!, most notably Mustard Plug's Rick Johnson. The band's DIY ethic is second to none in a (sort of) genre that used to be dominated by the DIY ideal. When I say genre, I mean the punk community -- but BTMI! can't exactly be stuffed into a musical mold. Instruments range from your typical drum-bass-guitar combo to keyboards, horns, bells and more. They have a strong ska influence that comes out in full force in some songs. Rosenstock isn't concerned with flawless vocals; part of the group's charm is the emotional, almost Oberst-esque vocal styling that Jeff brings to the table. Each song is lyrically charged and often features gang vocals around the hooks.

The live show was high-energy and raucous. Above all, the band looked like they were having a great time up there, and that's one of the key ingredients to putting on one hell of a show. Anyway, I've posted one of my favorite tracks here and you can find the band's entire discography up for free download here.

 

06 The First Time I Met Sanawon

 

"I know Chicago will be cold tomorrow / let's cash in on our thin blood and have another one." - BTMI!, "The First Time I Met Sanawon"

The Greatest Reunion Show of All Time

The expectation for the Asian Man Records 15th Anniversary Festival was that the Slapstick reunion would be a timeless masterpiece, a reunion for the ages, and that expectation was met...but my friends and I were more excited for the Broadways reunion, a band consisting of Brendan Kelly, Dan Hanaway, Chris McCaughan and Rob DePaola. 

A socialist-leaning pure punk rock band, the Broadways never made a name for themselves while they were active. The reunion show, which took place on Friday afternoon, proved that over time, the Broadways had exploded among hardcore Asian Man Records followers. But Brendan, who led the stage banter, couldn't seem to wrap his mind around the sudden following. "Where the f*ck were you guys when we were playing together?" he called out, overwhelmed with the crowd response after the first couple of songs. "Oh yeah...you were seven."

When the band took the stage, the audience let loose an uproarious bellow. The band immediately jumped into the set -- songs taken from the full-length LP Broken Star and the EP collection Broken Van -- and the audience exploded into a tornadic mob of dancing. Crowd members cycled on and off the stage (check out around 2:15 in the vid), diving into the frenzy of the pit where the crowd sang every word to each lyrically-packed song. Brendan continued talking shit about his own band, but even his trademark asshole banter couldn't stop the euphoric feeling that swept through the crowd.

Five other shows featuring some of my favorite bands of all time couldn't compare to the Broadways reunion, a celebration that my buddy Nathan and I agreed was the highlight of the festival and perhaps one of the best shows we'd ever been a part of. Many thanks to Brendan, Dan, Chris and Rob for the memories.

10-I Hear Things Are Just As Bad Down In Lake Erie

Trio Puts on Great Show, Gets a Little Weird

We waltzed into the Alkaline Trio portion of the Asian Man Records 15th Anniversary Festival with high hopes for the evening -- and we weren't disappointed. But before the show was over, things got a little weird.

Let's begin at the beginning, of course. When we showed up, Kepi Ghoulie was onstage leading the house in chorus after chorus of fun Ramones-inspired punk rock. Sure, Kepi doesn't put on the kind of high-energy show that leaves your jaw on the floor, but he did his part to make sure people were having a great time and getting into the music.

In a strange twist, the Hot Toddies took the stage next. I didn't know a thing about this band -- but I knew all I needed to after the first song. The Hot Toddies are like the Donnas on high doses of morphine...like Tegan and Sara stoned...or maybe like an all-female Weezer on valium. They flash these big sexy smiles while sauntering through surf rock songs, and the first question that pops to mind is "what are these girls selling?" Ah, but since this was a festival of peace, love and camaraderie, I'll leave the Hot Toddies alone and move on to Trio.

Mr. Skiba seemed recovered from his antics from the night before, and it wasn't long before the band was heating up, playing more old stuff than I've ever heard them run through live. They rocked the classics to an enthused crowd (interluding with a newer jam here and there) and ended with back-to-back performances of "Radio" and "97," leaving this audience member as happy as a clam.

Unfortunately, some confusion at the end over a number of large dudes who had jumped onstage ended with Skiba leading the band and the new band members in a chorus of "Two Lips, Two Lungs, One Tongue" by NoMeansNo, crushing what seemed to be the perfect ending into a million tiny pieces. Maybe that's going a little too far...but, at the very least, you can say it was one of the weirder endings to a show I'd ever experienced. Sometimes things get weird with the Trio, but god help me, I still love 'em.

I couldn't find any good videos of the Trio set, so I've posted Skiba's hilariously awkward drunken rant from the Slapstick show in its stead.

Slapstick Reunites at Asian Man Records Festival

So I meant to cover this year's Asian Man Records 15th Anniversary Festival in San Francisco in a more timely manner, but let's be honest...I was drinking beer. I'm finally home and caught up on sleep (sort of), so let's kick this party into full gear and I'll tell you about the mayhem, love and reunions that you missed out on.

The festival kicked off Wednesday night with three skanking reunions that sent the entire crowd spiraling into hazy memories of awkward high school make-out sessions, painful braces and the general uncomfortableness of puberty. It all started with Asian Man Records founder Mike Park and his quintessential ska band the Chinkees -- a fun opening act that got plenty ridiculous when an extremely intoxicated Matt Skiba (of Alkaline Trio) was asked to skank onstage. 

MU330, Dan Potthast's most well-known group, hit the stage next, pumping out their odd ska flair with trademark confidence and ease. They brought a pretty solid crowd of their own, but the crowd was ready for the headliner by the end of the set. 

And then there was the band that started it all. Slapstick, a ska band featuring prominent Chicago punkers like Brendan Kelly (The Lawrence Arms, The Broadways, The Falcon), Dan Andriano (Alkaline Trio, Tuesday) and Dan Hanaway (The Honor System, The Broadways), lit up the evening with a blazing set that ignited the crowd into a tumbling ball of flames. Of course, no Slapstick set would be complete without Matt Skiba wandering onstage (this time uninvited), thanking Mike Park over and over again and ranting about Asian stereotypes. 

And that was just the beginning.

Punk in the City #2: The Broadways

Punk in the City is a biweekly feature introducing influential Chicago punk, hardcore, post-hardcore, pop-punk, indie, and rock bands that have had a big impact on my personal musical evolution (and the Chicago scene in general).

If you're a hardcore Lawrence Arms fan like me, you've probably heard of the group's predecessor, the illustrious, short-lived Broadways.

Think: Jawbreaker with a heavy socio-political lyrical stance, tighter, less predictable riffs, and that certain vocal and songwriting charm that only Brendan Kelly can bring to the table. These guys were fast and hard-hitting -- on par with TLA's A Guided Tour of Chicago. Their music embodied that exact Chicago working class penchant that has always been part of the tone for the city's punk rock scene. At times, the lyrics bordered on socialist tendencies (using "bordered on" loosely here), but they were always intelligent and artistic in their political implications.

The Broadways rose from the ashes of ska-punk outfit Slapstick and pop-punkers Tricky Dick, bringing together Brendan Kelly and Chris McCaughan (who would later form the Lawrence Arms). Interestingly enough, the Broadways played their final show at Record Breakers, an old mom-and-pop music store out in Hoffman Estates (in the waaaaaaaaaaay northwest suburbs) I used to frequent, which subsequently moved to the city and opened Reggie's Rock Club and Reggie's Music Joint. Score one for the burbs.

The Broadways only released one full-length album (Broken Star) and a collection of the rest of their recordings (Broken Van) on Asian Man Records, but what they lacked in longevity, they more than made up for in pure awesomeness. Much like their songs, the Broadways were a short, intense, and unpredictable burst into the Chicago music scene, but one I'm extremely grateful for.

As previously mentioned, Brendan and Chris went on to form the Lawrence Arms. Former Broadways members Dan Hanaway and Rob DePaola eventually formed the Honor System (a group that included Rise Against's Tim McIlrath for a short period of time -- yes, the Chicago scene is extremely incestuous). Keep your eyes open for a blog about the Honor System in the near future.

Check out a few songs from Broken Star below.

Download 01 15 Minutes

Download 08 We'll Have A Party

Download 10 I Hear Things Are Just As Bad Down In Lake Erie

"Let's go shopping today / drive our fancy cars to the fancy malls and for lunch we'll have big macs."
- The Broadways, "15 Minutes"