Terminator 2, Lechuguillas, Bludded Head Rubber Gloves Tuesday, April 10
Denton label and all-around art/music enthusiasts Gutterth put together a furiously energetic noise show last night at Rubber Gloves. Brent Best of Slobberbone fame and Batey Ray of popular Denton punk trio The Swedish Teens were drink-slinging behind the bar, handling the packed house with an antithetical calm, given the fare presented one room over.
Around 11 p.m., Nevada Hill's newest project, Bludded Head, graced the stage for only the second time since their inception. They started slow, guitarist Hill and cellist Darcy Neal slinging whole-note-power-chord-death-fuzz reminiscent of when Greg Ginn decided to slow Black Flag the fuck down in the mid-'80s. Drummer Mike Forbes waited achingly long between beats and sat Zen-like, staring at the air, while Hill and Neal drew out minutes of feedback between the first and second song, steadily building speed through their 30-minute set.
Lechuguillas, a Chicago band that moved to Austin four months ago, were slated to headline but went on next, playing to a crowd of five. This changed quickly as wave after wave of noise consumers filed into the show room, the crowd expanding to 80 in a matter of 30 seconds. Lead singer Mike Hart, dressed as though he was either going to play a thrash show or a pick-up basketball game, sports goggles clenched tight to his head, convulsed on stage, screaming into the side of the microphone.
"We used to take music way seriously and try to spend a long time writing songs," Hart said. "Then we finally decided to say 'fuck it' and just get as drunk as we can and play as loud as we can." He also had some choice vitriol for the scene in his new hometown.
"Chicago fuckin' blows Austin out of the water," he said. "I thought I was coming down to Austin to this music capital ... whatever. It's bullshit. I hear more covers of Stone Temple Pilots than I do anything else."
As they rounded into their second-to-last song, "Eat the Earth," off new album Insurrection of an Erection, the air grew electric. Someone had to start throwing down. A dude in the front row spit PBR on bassist David Sailor, also lead singer of Terminator 2, and flicked his lit cigarette into the bass drum cavity. Then it was time to mingle, as females slammed around with larger males, and empty cans of Miller High Life were fast-pitched at the band, which, in turn, did not give a fuck.
Terminator 2 closed out the night to a dwindling crowd around 1 a.m. Despite playing to eight die-hards, they rocked until the end, finishing strong with signature song "No Teeth." On the way out, Ryan Williams of the Baptist Generals leaned down to illuminate Dust Congress frontman Nick Foreman's foot with his cell phone. A gaping, bloody gash careened down the side of his foot.
"Someone broke a bottle when I started a mosh pit," Foreman explained.
Williams got a good look at the cut, and simply said, "Eh, I don't think that's stitch-worthy."
