After a brief European tour, the hardcore punk trio, Copout, return to Tel Aviv for their 7" release show at Levontin 7. With them, they bring powerviolence noise makers MooM and "straight out of the 80s" hardcore punk/thrash super group Spit. As all the bands play really short songs, this is going to be a quick read!
MooM
As can be seen in previous reviews such as my review of their EP (see here), I absolutely love MooM. They play powerviolence and sludge, similar to the likes of Despise You and EYEHATEGOD. As great as they are on record, they are always more fun to watch live. Sima, like in everything she does, shouts her heart out on stage while the rest of the band play at breakneck speed. There might be a lot of bands out here that play this kind of style but it is MooM who show the most promise and come off sounding as if they could already be forefathers of the genre. The whole band is just fully into it and it makes for a more enjoyable viewing. Bass player Gad is still a delight to watch due to his stances and faces but it really is a group effort. It's such a shame that it's early days and they just have a super short set. They basically play the whole of both their First EP and the recently released and cleverly titled Second EP along with 2 brand new song (Lord Of Drug Lords and a currently untitled song) yet the set is still only about 15 minutes long tops. Ancient Scripts is still the most memorable of tracks for me but it's really difficult to soak everything else in when it all goes by so fast. The Nature Of Death and The Death Of Nature somehow manages to have an epic sounding first half and a counter-acting frantic second half and only be a minute long. Its' slow heavy pounding groove mixed with full throttle riffage is just the kind of thing that keeps me on my toes. I'm hoping things look up for them as they are set to embark upon a European tour during the summer. 5/5
Spit
Leaning more towards old school hardcore punk and crossover thrash, local super group, Spit, take the stage next and yet again zoom through their Poison In Your Head LP from beginning to end. Normally, singer Nadav tends to go crazy and do a lot of weird shit, but tonight he just gets down to business. This only makes the performance a tad less entertaining as he still runs around on stage and the band still play until they sweat buckets. There's a temporary line-up change tonight, as Not On Tour/City Rats drummer Gutzi "sits" in for local vocalist/drummer legend Corey. Despite sometimes starting the wrong song or momentarily forgetting how something goes, Gutzi's drumming is still on point and ridiculously impressive for someone who only had a short amount of time to learn an entire album.
A few crowd members, like myself, are familiar with the material now and are singing along and causing a lot of commotion on the dance floor. I guess that's a job well done, lads! Stand out songs for me are Restart, R.A.M.B.O, Christchurch, Kill The Cancer and the epic set closer Flag II. 4/5
Copout
With Levontin 7 still not as full as it could be, brothers in arms from Rosh HaAyin, Copout, take stage.
For anyone who hasn't checked out the band's debut record, Spray Paint (see review here), Copout walk in the shadow of bands like Kid Dynamite, Lifetime, Gorilla Biscuits and Black Flag, playing short songs mixing both technical musicianship and punk aggression. The songs are catchy, especially the likes of Oh No! and Where Is Your Mind? which are good sing alongs. The others might still need time to sink into people's heads because they're not as simply structured. As the band plays through their set, we hear every song off of Spray Paint, including their cover of the Black Flag song of the same name which is met with a great reception, but also play some currently unreleased tracks. The newer songs such as Disconnect and I Don't Care sound a tad heavier than their other material, almost touching upon Kids Insane-like hardcore in places, which actually works quite well.
In general, the songs do go by quite fast so it's difficult to take everything in. Nevertheless, Nir's tight and heavy drumming, Omer's solid bass lines and Uri's riffs have me nodding my head and tapping my toes while others are dancing at the front and getting pushed around. The boys in Copout are definitely doing something right. Having already gone on tour so early on in their career, their future looks bright.
Recently, I've found myself actually heading out of Tel Aviv for shows. I've been to Haifa, I've been to Rishon LeZion and now I've come to Ra'anana to yet another HaMartef (The Basement) for a metal show. As well as mainly coming to support old band mates Canine, I've come to check out Ages Of Atrophy, Unleash The Pain and to see Israeli metal legends Shredhead again. As the venue name suggests, I walk down a flight of stairs decorated with luminous strips/paint to what is apparently a form of youth centre. So it's going to be a pretty sober night, folks!
Ages of atrophy
The first band of the night is Tel Avivian deathcore five piece, Ages Of Atrophy. I have a feeling they may not have done much of a good enough soundcheck beforehand. As the band starts up, it's all a bit quiet apart from the ridiculously prominent double kick. In this type of metal, the double kicks are indeed important but this rendered the vocals pretty inaudible at the beginning. May have also been a mic problem which seemed to sort itself out as the show went on. As a drummer myself with sensitive ears, I could hear the drummer sometimes losing pace during blast beats but the impressive finger work of guitarists Ran and Gal takes the focus away. Although I am not usually into deathcore, I do find myself enjoying the band as the set goes on. Some of the beatdowns get me thrusting my body backwards and forth and smiling. I still find the genre as a whole pretty unimpressive and what Ages Of Atrophy play is nothing new but it does seem to hit a soft spot tonight.
3/5
Unleash The Pain
Another band I've never heard of before, Unleash The Pain, take the stage next in a strange costume of torn white T- shirts. Not entirely sure of the meaning behind all that and what it stands for but it seems to be their thing. Could be considered gimmicky but at the same time it does show them as a "united front", as it were. This is apparently an important occasion for the band. Not only is it a comeback show for them but it is 6 years since the band played their first ever show in the same venue. After some mic issues, the band start blasting out some Killswitch Engage meets Lamb Of God style metal. Everything musically and vocally sounds surprisingly quite polished for a live set. Israel's (vocalist) clean vocals on tracks from their Isolated EP actually sound better live than on record. Maybe time and a lot of practice has helped him develop his vocals even more. As well as their old material, the band preview songs from their upcoming album. At one point, Israel says that the next song is called We're Not Gonna Make It. For a split second, I think it's going to be a Presidents Of The USA cover...but I'm wrong. We get treated to another slab of modern metal with some beatdown/breakdown parts. During the set, the band go amongst the crowd, which is always fun. The crowd seem to lap it up.
Unleash The Pain is certainly not the most creative name I have ever heard. On top of that, the name suggests a more brutal band. There's a little bit too much melody for them to be worthy of the name. But what's in a name? Anyone heard of We Butter The Bread With Butter?
Unleash The Pain are worth checking out and are definitely at quite a professional level right now which did not come across as pretentious but quite modest. The white t-shirt costume thing might let them down in terms of being taken seriously, but as long as people judge them on the music alone, they might be ok. I'm interested in hearing the new stuff.
3.5/5
Canine
Ahhh and now it's Canine. I will admit that I have come today primarily in support of them but they don't really need it. For some years now, the band has had the confidence and the cojones of a big time band that it's as if they don't really need fans at all. The band turn up tonight with conference-style drop down roller banners with their logo on that take up a majority of the stage. The band hasn't even released their first official album or toured out of the country but have already jumped ahead to such on-stage extravagances. All power to them and everything, but it personally seems a bit too much for a fairly unknown Israeli band who are essentially called DOG. Alighting the stage in a professional style, the band kick of their set with Silence Before Chaos, a fairly old song for their repertoire that has still yet to be released. I am familiar with it from my short lived days with the band, so I'm already going nuts at the get go. It's pure Machine Head, for sure, but it's certainly a great opening song and Ben Saada's more Lamb Of God-like vocals gives it a new twist to the song's previous incarnation. The rest of the band's set also includes some songs which are technically old but are set to be released on the upcoming album, whenever that will see the light of day! Some of the songs take on a more Killswitch Engage vibe with the addition of Saada's clean vocals, which seem to have improved with time. The band also do a cover of Faith Or Forgiveness by The Ghost Inside. My knowledge of that band is close to non-existent so I'm not going to pretend like I knew the song or how the cover compared but those familiar with it are shouting along and getting a pit going. As well as both on stage and off stage antics from band members, there is a moment in the set which, for me, is quite sweet. Saada speaks about his former band Eyes Sewn Shut and how they once played in that venue...or something along those lines. He even starts reminiscing with former band members who were quietly standing not so far from me and it suddenly makes the evening all that more intimate. Finishing their almost hour long set with crowd members singing and dancing along to their last single, Last Words Live Forever, it's hard to say that Canine are not entertaining. They seem to give the people all the metal cliches that they want in a show and are somehow still managing to just float above the line of generic metalcore. An hour is certainly far too long a set for a band still essentially in their early stages but they pulled it off. It is still a shame (personally) that they completely eradicate all material from their more groove-metal influenced Degeneration EP, but it's a sign of maturity, I guess.
3.5/5
Shredhead
Although Canine may seem like the main act of the night, it's Israeli thrash heavyweights Shredhead who take stage to finish things off. I've seen the band once or twice before but it has been mostly to a much larger crowd than this. This is a teen friendly venue in Ra'anana, to be fair, so maybe most of their beer drinking fans from Tel Aviv and elsewhere didn't see the point in travelling over for this. It's a big shame because Shredhead have both the presence and material worthy of a bigger crowd. Due to being the end of the night, I will admit that I am unable to recollect particular moments of the set but did find myself really getting into them for the first time. In a world full of attempted metalcore, Shredhead keep things thrashy with added elements of groove metal. With a set almost exclusively made up of tracks from their 2015 Death Is Righteous album, such as set opener LPBZ, the Pantera-like Last Words Are Lost and crowd pleaser Devil's Race, the 5 piece also play a brand new song and classic track from the Human Nature album, Knife In A Gunfight. The latter really gets the die-hard fans headbanging, finger pointing and shouting along.
For a headline act, Shredhead's set feels quite short but I think that's a good thing. It leaves the people wanting more and forces them to come to more shows in the future. I certainly wouldn't mind watching them again with more material as I am impressed at how they still manage to come off as current while playing pretty old school styles. It also makes me want to start listening to them more regularly.
4/5
Well done to Yam Yaffe for putting on a great night. I've come away with some new bands to like and a newfound admiration for Shredhead. Photos for Ages Of Atrophy, Unleash The Pain and Canine by Shahar Gino.
Do you not know who Insane Clown Posse are? Have you never heard of Juggalos? Have you never seen a Gathering Of The Juggalos infomercial? Well, here's a chance to clue yourself in.
Insane Clown Posse are a horror inspired hip hop act from Detroit who spawned a whole genre of rappers with clown paint talking about murder and "neden". Along with the genre came a fanbase which got nicknamed Juggalos. Although Juggalos are primarily considered "white trash" who do a lot of whippets and drink Faygo, I, a Londoner from a pretty middle class upbringing, always saw myself as a Juggalo at heart. I remember seeing the video for ICP's Hocus Pocus when it came out and was mesmerised by these rappers in facepaint.
Over the years, I got myself more familiar with ICP as well as others from their Psychopathic Records label such as Twiztid and Boondox and related artists such as HedPE and Wolfpac. The Gathering Of The Juggalos, ICP's annual festival, has always really appealed to me. As well as having some amazing names from the hip hop world, they also tend to have some metal or hardcore bands in the mix. This year, GoTJ 17, they've managed to get old school rappers like Bone Thugs N Harmony and Slick Rick on board, as well as metalcore acts like Suicide Silence, Attila, Asking Alexandria and Emmure. Despite being from a more hardcore background, I'm actually more excited by Bone Thugs N Harmony. I don't even really listen to those metal bands. There is still regular metal acts such as GWAR in their latest lineup and HedPE who I've always really liked. TechN9ne is a regular of the festival too. He is probably the main Juggalo related rapper who is even considered outside of the Juggalo "world" as a genius and is loved pretty much by all.
Check out the video for the rest of the lineup, including more rap and metal acts, as well as comedians and other entertainment throughout the weekend. I always like checking it out for discovering new acts or acts I've never heard of before. Deranged horror rock duo One-Eyed Doll and the cocaine loving rappers The Dayton Family both really stood out for me. The infomercial itself, as always, is funny, although as the years go on it has become more purposely comical whereas before it was just weird. Early infomercials even brought forth a bunch of Saturday Night Live parodies. This year, the makers of the infomercial seem to have taken on board SNL's jokes and run with it. This is pretty much a parody within itself and would thus make it hard for anyone to poke fun at.
And I am actually quite interested in this year's festival. Are any of you guys going?
Despite constantly having to compete with this band when they do shows on the same day as Woolly Boy, Sweatshop Boys are the current Israeli kings of catchy and uplifting fuzzy pop punk. I may not have given them the best review for the last EP, Always Polite, Never Happy, but simply because the songs didn't do much for me compared to the songs on previous record, The Great Depression, not because I don't like them.
Vertigo is a new track that the band are demoing as a taster of their next record which they will start recording soon. It has a bit of a Descendents/Pegboy/early Social Distortion feel, with raspy vocals layered over up tempo punk rock. The song seems to use "vertigo" as a way of describing one's personal downward spiral. Personally, it sees the band back on track on writing some both catchy and punchy socially aware anthems.
I am seriously unsure of how to feel right now. Despite other people's views, I still like Buckcherry. I loved the self titled debut, I liked Time Bomb, they then had some hits which were "ok", in my opinion, and the more recent FUCK Ep and Rock n Roll album had them sounding more like their old material again in parts. I've even been known to admit to having a bit of a man-crush on frontman Josh Todd, despite looking like a tattooed Willem Dafoe in hindsight. Mr Todd and Buckcherry guitarist Stevie D have created a side project that goes in a completely different direction to their hard rock roots.
Spraygun War is the duo's new dubstep style outfit and no...it doesn't seem like a joke. Personally, their track OMG could be sooo much worse....but it could also be sooo much better. I don't have that much of a problem with dubstep in general but this isn't even all that creative for the genre. Josh Todd's rapping (yes, rapping!) lacks any real substance. Josh tries to tackle the tricky subject of war and religion but it comes off like a cliche activist preaching to passers by. The chorus does have a bit more bite to it but on the whole the song is pretty weak. Even the guitar stabs don't do much for the track.
OMG's video is annoyingly pretty well shot; simple yet affective. It does feel weird to see Josh Todd acting younger as time goes on. In the video for their expletive cover of Icona Pop's I Love It, the Buckcherry frontman is sporting a NWA cap. In this video, he is sporting his very own Spraygun War cap. That's right! They already have their own caps!! Along with the tattoos, the chains, the wifebeater and shooting the video next to urban graffiti, it's all slipping into Escape The Fate territory and is, quite frankly, embarrassing. All that being said, I respect them for attempting something different to the more traditional hard rock they normally do. It shows that they're more open minded than some "ageing" rockstars, although it could be an attempt to "get down with the kids". Spraygun War's Ep Into The Blackness is due for release June 10th. Guess what... I'm probably going to check that out purely out of curiosity.
Seeing as this past week was the anniversary of Israel's independence, I thought it would be fitting to do something I haven't done in a while. Here are some (fairly) new videos from Israeli bands and what I think of them.
Saint God - Narasvette
First up is the Tel Aviv based Saint God. I've seen Saint God once before and was impressed by their creativity and mixture of genres (see review). Having already released their first album Montefiore (which I should review at some point), the duo also released a single, Narasvette. I found the video by accident via BlankTV. Well done on the boys for getting themselves on there. The track is pretty much in a shoegaze vibe, with dreamy, fuzzy guitars and echoed vocals. The video features Italian dancer, Giualia Piana, whose free spirited movements fit the flow of the song perfectly. The video is professionally shot and should be getting more attention.
The Fading - Solitude Express
When it comes to Israeli metal bands, I'm still not 100% clued in. The Fading is a name I have seen and heard a lot since I moved out here. I'm actually still not sure if I've ever seen them but they must be doing something right. Their In Flames style metal has given them fairly wide spread success, most recently gaining them support slots on tour with the likes of Five Finger Death Punch and Bring Me The Horizon. The band's latest video is for Solitude Express from their last album Till Life Do Us Part. The video is mostly of the band in their rehearsal room, along with a few snippets of live performances and general "band stuff". The song itself is a good slab of modern metal, with thunderous drums, melodious riffs and growling vocals. I tend to prefer my metal a little bit more creative or fun and thrashy, but for what it is, it's certainly better than some of the more metalcore of bands who use bad clean vocals.
Jack The Envious - Wonderwall (Oasis Cover)
Speaking of bands with bad clean vocals, have you met Jack The Envious? In all seriousness, despite being unimpressed with the band's original material from the Pull You Down album (another album I'm yet to review), I have been made pleasantly surprised by this total reworking of the Oasis classic, Wonderwall. To many, this might be considered "sacrilege" and that most Oasis songs are "untouchable", but even if you don't like Jack The Envious and this genre in general, you have to give them points for creativity. If someone was to hear this without being told what it was, they probably would not guess it was a Wonderwall cover until the first verse starts. The music is pretty much rewritten and given the "easycore" treatment. Apart from the closing melody of the song, nothing much from the original has stuck. The essence of the chorus is still there vocally, it's just been given some added double kicks and chugging guitars. The video sees the band roaming around a big house while playing and swapping instruments, eventually ending in one big house party. Probably out of all the covers of the song that have been done over the years, this has to be on the list of the most interesting, even if it does lack the punch that one would hope from this type of band. Taking the iconic drum solo out of such a classic song was definitely a risky move.
Shredhead - Devil's Race
Yet another Israeli metal band who I don't know as much about as I should; Shreadhead are back after a breif hiatus, dropping this video for Devil's Race which comes from their second album Death Is Righteous released last year. I've seen them a couple of times but nothing ever really stuck with me. Might just not be my bag, but they are one of the more popular bands that manage to gather fans from both the metal and hardcore scenes. The song takes in bits of thrash and death metal, mixing it with an anthemic Pantera-like chorus. The video largely features multi-camera live show footage with crowd close-ups as well as some tour bus/backstage stuff. The concept might be nothing new, but we get to see both the band and the crowd really giving it their all.
Matricide - Unreality
Here's another one. It's funny how many of these videos are actually coming out along time after the album's release. Unreality comes form Matricide's 2013 album, When Random Turns To Fate. Like Shredhead, Matricide are also doing pretty well for themselves out here in Israel, but I'm not entirely sure how well they are doing elsewhere. They are doing that popular Djent-influenced style metal that I'm not all that into but can appreciate why others are. This is quite an epic video, almost like a little movie, and the song is a little bit too long for my taste. However, it's well crafted and the musicianship is pretty flawless.
Peled - Ba Be Boom
Some hip hop now. Peled (apparently from Menchamia very close to the Jordan border) is one of those rappers that also moves in the Israeli alternative circles. Ba BeBoom (Hit You With A Boom) comes from the latest album HaKol Alay (Everything's On Me). It's the kind of rap rock mix that was popular in the early 00s. I just happen to be the type of person who still likes that sort of thing. I might still not be all that great with following rap in Hebrew, but you got to appreciate the flow. The video is like most southern (USA) hip hop videos. You've got a bunch of cars in a field, dirt bikes, smoking and some breakdancing. Although old concepts, it still comes across as a pretty fresh video and you can't fault the track...unless you're not into that kind of thing, then say what you like.
Kitat Omanut - Chalumot Gadolim
Going to finish this off with something more punky from Kitat Omanut (Art Class). Hailing from Netanya, these guys play a mixture of alternative and punk rock. Chalumot Gadolim (Big Dreams), from the Rock Yisraeli (Israeli Rock) album, has a bit of a Brit Pop flavour while also sounding like Israeli alternative acts like HaShpung Shel HaPita (The Roll of the Pitta??) and even Israeli punk legends Bo LaBar (Come to the Bar). Both the song and the video are short and fun but I just can't help feel that it's maybe a little bit dated. But what do I know? I still like old Smash Mouth...
Although this blog is called PUNKalovich and I tend to cover punk and hardcore, I have been known to go to and review certain shows out of curiosity. This is one of those occasions where I only discovered the act via the gig poster and decided to give them a listen on the chance I might like it. And guess what! I only bloody did!
Tonight, I find myself at Gagarin to see drum n bass/digital hardcore artist drumcorps. When I get there, a fair bit later than the posted starting time (which itself was midnight, anyway), dnb DJ, Hostage, is on stage. I'm not going to officially review his set tonight because..well..I don't really know what to write in terms of a proper review for a drum n bass DJ. What I will say is that it was mostly quite slow for drum n bass. It was more like thumping techno. Either way, it was a good warm up but I didn't hear anything that really made my feet move.
After Hostage, drumcorps takes the stage as the night's main attraction. I hadn't heard of him before but I checked out some tracks and it's practically the sort of mix of heavy guitars and manic beats that I always thought about having a go at. As good as it already is on record, drumcorps live performance is an amazing experience. As well as playing prerecorded tracks off of Ableton on his laptop, drumcorps aka Aaron Spectre (originally from Boston but currently residing in Geneva, Switzerland) also plays some live guitar through a massive Orange amp and uses a form of drum pads/sampler for live effects and added fills. Even when simply playing a prerecorded track, Aaron is totally hyped and making sure the crowd is having a good time.
What drumcorps does is not simply electronic music. The set opener, My Heart Flies To Where You Are, doesn't even really come under the banner of drum n bass, jungle or digital hardcore at all. It doesn't even really fall under punk. It's a pretty slow tempo, heavy and almost sludgy jam with an enticing melody that builds throughout. The drum n bass fans seem to not really know what they've come along to at this point, but those more into hardcore and metal are headbanging away. I'm even smiling immediately as I'm surprised by how heavy and groovy it is. We hear drumcorps' slower side again later with the short dark interlude We Turned At A Dozen Paces, For Love Is A Duel, but the majority of the set is hectic.
The setlist is mainly comprised of tracks from his 2008 album Grist and his latest album Falling Forward. Those who are already fans go crazy for likes of Grist classics like Botch Up and Die (which samples To Our Friends In The Great White North by Botch), the anthemic Down (which samples Cave In's Terminal Diety) and the album's title track, which ends the night back on a slower and more headbanging note. Newer tracks like Got The Row, Crosses and Tap Tap Tap are chaotic electronic numbers with frenzied beats and distorted guitars that get some people running around, whereas more hardcore tracks like Built For War and The Path actually result in some air punching action here and there. He also played a couple of remixes, including his remix for Relief by the band Genghis Tron and an unreleased remix of hardcore band Code Orange's I Am King, the latter of which came off sounding even heavier and more crazy than the original. After the main event, local underground DJ crew, Sensi Sound System, take the stage. Again, I'm not really going to give this much of a review. Not just because I'm not really sure what to say about a DJ set but I really only stayed and listened to Shy FX's Original Nuttah and then went home. By the time I walked all the way home, it was about 5AM. I ended up sleeping until 6:45PM the next day! So lucky I had nothing else to do.
Aaron Spectre/drumcorps is something I am kicking myself for not discovering sooner but so glad I paid attention to the posts and dragged myself along to this at stupid-o'clock at night. I have a soft spot for drum n bass, as well as a big love for digital hardcore acts like Mad Capsule Markets and Atari Teenage Riot and hardcore punk in general. drumcorps takes all this to the extreme and presents it with joy and energy. With only a few bits of equipment, he manages to make a hell of a noise; a powerfully invigorating, crushing and heavy noise. I'm not a fan of the noise genre, per se, but when it's rapid drum beats, heavy guitar riffs and shouty vocals, I am very much on board. The sampling from hardcore and metal bands and the fact that some of the drumcorps original tracks include drumming from Madball's Mike Justian and Iggor Cavalera just make this act all the more interesting and special in my eyes.
A shout out to Bass Fanatics and Frog-Hop Crew for their hard work of bringing him over and setting up the show. 5/5 Photos courtesy of Raz Mor
With Levontin 7 still not as full as it could be, brothers in arms from Rosh HaAyin, Copout, take stage.
