Mind Spiders, Low Culture, Brain Attack, Occult Detective Club Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios Friday, February 10
With two drummers, two guitarists, one bassist and one keyboardist, Mind Spiders didn't sound lopsided Friday night at Rubber Gloves.Throwing in some new material from their sophomore effort, Meltdown, along with songs from their 2011self-titled debut, the 11-song, 30-minute set never hit any road blocks.
Drummers Greg Rutherford and Mike Thorneberry were perfectly in sync on their minimal kits. Daniel Fried, a wild presence in Bad Sports, his other band with Rutherford, handled his bass with a Dee Dee Ramone kind of flair. And singer Mark Ryan bopped his head as his pummeled his vintage green Danelectro.
Prior to Mind Spiders were three brisk sets. Occult Detective Club was very apologetic about starting late (just ten minutes shy of 11 p.m.) and quickly jumped into a 20-minute set. Go-go pop-punk went down the right hatch. Midway through the third song, their frontman broke a string on his Telecaster. Luckily, Mind Spiders' Steven Svacina lent him his Tele and the show resumed.
Brain Attack crammed nine songs into 15 minutes, recalling the bruising style of Hot Snakes with early Government Issue's blasts of hardcore punk. Their frontwoman sang in front of the stage, standing shoulder to shoulder with the crowd around her.The guitarist's strap kept falling off and his guitar kept wavering out of tune, but he never gave up.
Low Culture wrestled through a sloppy set. With Joe Ayoub from The Marked Men (the same band that features Mark Ryan and Mike Thorneberry) in the lineup, it's not a surprise most of the band's zippy garage punk sounded like The Marked Men. When their bassist frequently got lost mid-song and the drummer missed cues because he was playing on a smaller set, the momentum often stalled.
Personal bias:This was my first time seeing Mind Spiders. Won't be my last.
By the way:Looks like ASCAP is even going after the small venues. Lame.
