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Kill the Hippies CD release party with
The Feelers, The Come Along and Eat It, and The Krunchies
08-06-05
The Beachland Tavern
Kent, Ohio’s Kill the Hippies have been around since
1993, and although they’ve put out a ton of material scattered throughout
various 7 inches, cassettes, and compilations. Now, thanks to the Rock N
Roll Purgatory record label, all that stuff and more is available in one
handy 2 CD set called ‘Erectospective’. So it was decreed that on August 8th,
2005, a CD release party would be held to herald this great event.
Unfortunately, the drummer for Kill the Hippies seriously injured his leg,
casting a web of doubt over the affair. But fear not. When you’ve got as
many ex drummers lying around as Kill the Hippies does, you can always find
someone in a pinch. And in this case the band got several of their former
skin bashers to help out. We’ll get to the results in a moment, but first a
few words about the openers.
The Feelers were just phenomenal. Great songs, great
performance, great everything. It may have been Kill the Hippies’ party,
but these guys almost stole the show. The Feelers rise up from the sea of
mediocrity that is the modern punk scene like a pissed off Poseidon, hurling
their trident of rock right into the soulless bodies of the Blink 182s and
Good Charlottes of the world while simultaneously pinching a loaf on the
heads of all the Stooges and Turks wannabes intent on making “underground”
music a stale museum piece like the blues.
Next up was The Come Along and Eat It, an electronic
duo who admitted from the start that they’re just a joke band. Nothing
wrong with that, I like a good laugh now and then. I probably wouldn’t go
out of my way to see them, but they were entertaining for the duration of
their set, so no complaints.
Then it was the Krunchies turn to rock. If they had
been playing with lesser bands than Kill the Hippies and The Feelers, they
would have stood out more. They were excellent, but not quite on the same
level as the two aforementioned bands. Still, these guys I would go
out of my way to see again.
Finally,
Kill the Hippies hit the stage with the first of several drummers. The
evening was, as guitarist/vocalist Mort Treehorne put it, “a celebration of
the drum”. Or something like that. Anyway, the band proved themselves more
than worthy of having a two CD collection released. They boast one of the
most unique sounds in punk rock today, combining the loud and fast attack of
bands like The Ramones and The Stooges with the idiosyncratic stylings of
bands like Devo, Pere Ubu, The Crucifucks, and Dead Kennedys. Mort and
vocalist/bassist P.P. Envy are both excellent musicians, proving to any
doubters that punk rock doesn’t have to limit itself to power chords and
generic leads, and all the guest drummers did an excellent job. As for
current KTH drummer Bobby Robot, he was on stage as well providing drunken
backing vocals. (Bob Ignizio)
For pictures
click here.
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