Bad Copy

I don’t think I will ever grow out of loving Street Punk. It’s such a specific genre of Hardcore Punk, I can never seem to scratch that itch for it. I’m pretty picky about what I listen to nowadays and going to shows like this are hard when all you want to do is run around in a circle and flail your limbs wildly with everyone, but your knees are not what they used to be. There are certain bands in this genre that will always pull me to a show every now and then. Monster Squad is one of them and when I heard that they were releasing a new album after a very long break, I was thrilled.

The first act up was RooFTops, a man that had been in many Boston Street Punk bands in the past, screaming and playing his heart out on an acoustic guitar. The set was acoustic, but do not be fooled by the lack of electricity or drums. This dude gave it his all and it was undeniably hardcore. Personally, I always like acoustic Punk performers because I think it takes way more guts to get up there by yourself than with a band and a bunch of loud instruments. His songs were really well written: gruffly melodic with thoughtful lyrics. If RooFTops is ever playing a show in your town, I highly recommend you see him.

CRIM from Tarragona, Spain was next. With high energy and Spanish lyrics, these boys came from far away and brought it hard and fast. They mixed elements of Oi with straightforward Punk, making them a crowdpleaser. When they closed their set with a Cocksparrer cover, everyone lost it in the best way. The pit exploded with people singing and dancing and many a beer was spilled out of joy.

Hailing from Vacaville, California came the local scene heroes, Monster Squad. I had been waiting for this set all night and was just as juiced as everyone else there. After what seemed like a pretty long break, the band has started playing shows more frequently again and have really come back with a bang. I used to go see them at 924 Gilman Street all the time when I was a young punkeroo, and helped cause a ruckus multiple times in the pit. However, now with my camera and trying to be responsible doing some sort of “job”  (kinda), I gotta say that taking photos while screaming lyrics at a band is kind of difficult to do. I think I managed to do both for a minute. I think I get a few punk points for that? Who’s counting?  Not me. Anyway, the band played a bunch of my favorites as well as some new songs off their new LP, Depression, which just came out. They were on fire that night; it was probably one of the tightest sets I have ever seen them play and I loved every second of it.

The big headliner at this show was The Bad Co. Project.  If you don’t already know, this band is basically watching the classic street punk band Oxymoron from Germany. As stated on their website and in many an article, this band rose from the ashes of Oxymoron and boy, do they still rock those songs. They opened strong with “Here Come The Pigs” and continued to rile up the crowd with old favorites throughout the night. It was really fun finally getting to see some of the songs I have heard on my stereo so many times, played live and with so much energy.

The photos I took at the show are in a gallery below. Check em out!