Live Review: Nasty + support @ Levontin 7, Tel Aviv [25th May 2017]

Nasty
03
Ostra Torn

There are some bands that I thought might never come to this country and when they actually do, it's not something to miss out. Tonight, a variety of people from the different hardcore scenes in Tel Aviv have gathered at Levontin 7 to witness the crazily heavy beatdowns of Belgian hardcore crew Nasty.

Östra Torn

Starting off tonight's proceedings is Haifa trio, Östra Torn. I've already reviewed these guys recently when they supported Zaga Zaga and I was really impressed by their doomy/sludgy hardcore. They did a very similar set tonight, set up in a triangle and just making the loudest noise possible. The band walks the fine line of playing loose enough that the music feels more natural and free-flowing but tight enough that no-one is loosing their place and they're all on the same page. The band hasn't got anything recorded yet (soon to come, though, I believe..) but watching them live is essential. You find yourself in some sort of tennis-spectator mode, as your eyes bounce from screaming bassist Nir to more growly guitarist Dean while drummer Ofer goes crazy amidst the heavy riffs and rumbling bass. I think that even when they do eventually release something, this is a band that can also be solely enjoyed live without needing to be familiar with the material. As long as you like things slow, heavy and energetic, you'll be smiling the whole show.

4/5

03

It was quite disappointing to hear shortly beforehand that tonight is 03's (Efes Shalosh) last show, so I think there's a lot of people who have come almost exclusively in support of them. Like Östra Torn, I have reviewed 03 before but with varying reviews. They've definitely become the tough hardcore powerhouse that they are now since the addition of guitarist Lemmy, who always jumps about the stage like his guitar's a kid's toy! With the recent release of their first album This Is Survival, Not A Revival, more people have gotten to hear exactly what this band does and have therefore gained more recognition. I still wouldn't go as far as saying that they're breaking any new ground in hardcore but they've certainly helped bridge that gap between hardcore and metalcore in this country, even bringing both fanbases to their shows.

As always, singer Jenia struts about the stage and the venue floor with his razor blade vocals blasting out of the speakers while the band delivers their Born From Pain meets Madball hardcore with infectious energy that rubs off on the crowd. The track Bruce Lee will forever be the band's Clobberin' Time; like the Sick Of It All song, it's less than a minute's worth of thunderous instrumental hardcore that just gets everyone pumped, making it the highlight of every show. They definitely have the right grooves to get people moving and a general likability but it just always feels like they're lacking something that separates them from the rest of the hardcore world.

 Hopefully, the band are not splitting up completely but just taking a break for a while and will come back with some fresh new material.

3.5/5

Nasty

All these years, I've wondered what kind of people would turn up to see some proper European beatdown hardcore. Tonight, there's a bunch of faces I've never really seen before as well as a few familiar ones. I was still unsure by what the reaction would be as normally any form of hardcore show out here tends to be still pretty "punk" in terms of the dancing and the general attitude. Although 03's set saw a bit of "violence", things went up a notch for Belgian posse Nasty.


Pretty much from the start, the pit has opened up and we see some 2-stepping, spin kicks, windmilling and stage diving as Nasty plough through their low-tuned, boisterous, hip-hop tinged hardcore. Frontman, Matthi, roams about the stage, getting everyone fired up and encouraging all the pit-action. The rest of the band also give it their all on stage, with Paddy (guitar) and Berri (bass) bouncing around and Nash smashing the kit behind them.

To be honest, the rest of the show becomes a bit of a blur as it just gets so crazy (and a literal blur because I took my glasses off to avoid any mishaps). As the band plays hits like Shokka, Lying When They Love Us and Slave To The Rich, bodies start flying all over the place, knocking the monitors off the stands in front of the stage. This leads to Matthi deciding to move all the monitors to the side of the stage and leave the front completely free for stag diving and sing-a-longs.

Whereas you can sometimes come across bands who are in the mindset of just turning up, plugging in and playing, it seems as though Nasty are genuinely excited to be experiencing a show in Tel Aviv, making sure that everyone's having a good time and especially that there's some carnage. There's very minimal talking between songs and nothing gets too "preachy". Even when it gets to the finale of anti-fascist anthem Zero Tolerance, Matthi mostly spreads some PMA instead of getting political.

This has to be one of the most "hardcore" shows I've ever been to in Israel, in terms of seeing some of the dancing I grew up seeing in the London scene. Maybe it's because of my age but I actually felt too intimidated to join in as much as I would have liked to. That said, it was still cool to just watch from the sidelines. Where I once originally thought of Nasty in a similar way as a band like Emmure (i.e. immature heavy music for college jocks), my views have changed. Nasty are simply a tough hardcore band with some solid beatdowns and try to touch upon serious topics in the most aggressive yet also fun ways possible. 

4/5

All photos courtesy of Miguel St Labao

Live Review: Zaga Zaga Album Release Show @ Levontin 7, Tel Aviv [18th March 2017]

Zaga Zaga
Östra Torn
Mitromemot

Noisy Tel Aviv hardcore punk outfit, Zaga Zaga, have released a new full length album. In order to celebrate it, they have invited their fanbase and friends to Levontin 7 to witness the new material live. They have also invited two new bands to open up for them.

Mitromemot

Up first is Tel Aviv based Mitromemot (which apparently means "faggots"). As I'm sure happens in most small scenes, sometimes new bands will pop up made from members of other popular/once-popular bands. Mitromemot consists of drummer Oneg (also the current Haium HaDeomgraphy drummer), guitarist Adi (Deaf Chonky), bassist Benjamin (Almonim Metim) and vocalist Mati (ex-Erev Rav). Having only just put out their debut self-titled EP, this is also their debut show. However, there's already a lot of people eager to see them. The band plays all of the 8 rapid and aggressive songs from the EP (no longer than 1 min 30 secs each) which run in a similar vein to the aforementioned Almonim Metim and Erev Rav. Out of those songs, Savta Coeset (Grandma's Angry/Angry Grandma) stands out the most. Although a song I cannot personally relate to, it simply speaks of the true and familiar generation gap between modern Israeli liberals and their Jewish/Zionist elders. As an added bonus, the band also treats the crowd to an interesting Hebrew rendition of the straight edge classic Minor Threat by the legends of the same name. I didn't actually recognise it due to never having heard the song in Hebrew before but those who get it are singing along and holding Mati aloft. All in all, it might not be the type of hardcore punk I would normally choose to listen to but the band has the right amount of passion behind the music and Mati has turned into one hell of a performer, screaming his lungs out and owning the stage.

3/5

Östra Torn

Man, Haifa has been giving birth to a lot of heavy shit! As one of the bands to have been born out of the demise of Haifa hardcore heavyweights Barren Hope, the next band on, Östra Torn (which I believe is Swedish for "East Tower"), similarly play low-tuned, fuzzy, metallic hardcore. On stage, the trio align themselves in a triangle so as guitarist, Dean, and bassist, Nir can both see equal amounts of each other, the crowd and drummer, Ofer. As they aggressively plough through a thunderous set of Nails/Trap Them/Soulground heaviness, Dean and Nir share vocals, with their different styles complimenting one another well. I basically had a grin from ear to ear throughout most of the set; it just hits that spot in my brain that really responds to crushingly angry music. If these guys can stay around longer than Barren Hope, I can easily see them as a welcomed addition to either Prosthetic or Nuclear Blast roster.

4/5

Zaga Zaga

Yes, yes..I'm having to write about Zaga Zaga again! To be honest, I'm writing this review more to give some publicity to the supporting acts. I've written about Zaga Zaga a lot over the passed couple of years. Although my views on them did change after the first couple of times seeing them, they've since just been consistently fun to watch live that there's never really been nothing new to say. With the release of their self titled album (which some are calling their debut, although I personally consider Year One their first proper album), they've now just added more crazily fast, heavy and noisy songs to their set. Joining classic crowd-pleasers such as The Dancer, (I Just Called To Say) I Hate Your Band and Industrial Estate (my personal favourite due to its interesting question-answer guitar breakdown), new tracks such as Black T and Cancer Man are already seeing the crowd get involved. Razorblade Razorblade, although from the new album, has been in the band's repertoire for quite some time. It's jagged, dissonant groove always manages to get my head moving.

There is still a part of me that finds some of the faster songs flying right by me like a barrage of shouting and shredding, but there are at least songs which have enough balance of groove and rapid intensity which make them one of the more interesting bands in the scene at the moment. Also, every time I watch them, I'm reminded of a quote that a friend read in a band's biography (I think it was The Sonics). It was something along the lines of "If you haven't sweat enough from a show that you can throw your shirt at a wall and make it stick, then you didn't give a good enough performance." Tonight, I was worried guitarist Ben was going to create a fire hazard with what was pouring out of his face onto his pedals! Even if the music isn't your thing, everyone can admire how Zaga Zaga give 110% on stage.

3.5/5

Photos by David "Doh Doh" Rosen

Live Review: Eternal Struggle EP Release Show @ Levontin 7, Tel Aviv [19th August 2016]

Eternal Struggle

Coma 7

Ganza

I've shown a lot of love recently for local tough-guy hardcore band, Eternal Struggle. Although the shows I've seen them at prior to now have not had the best of turnouts, I've brought myself along to this special occasion; their EP release show. I've already sung my praises for Breaking & Entering (see review) so it is no surprise that I am here tonight in support of it.

Ganza

First band in support are Ganza. I've written about these guys twice before; the first time wasn't great and the second was good. Still with new singer Max, the guys sound and perform better than the previous show. Max is still incredibly enthusiastic, with his hair windmills and high jumps, and Ohad's guitar solos impress me more and more each time. The musicianship all round is pretty solid but their actual music style is still a bit all over the place, sounding like about 4 different tribute acts all in one. It still has the essence of some sort of college project as opposed to a real band. However, their songs are still catchy (e.g. Butterflies and Junkie) and they put on a good show, getting the crowd energised.  

3.5/5

Coma 7

  This is my second time seeing Coma 7 but my first time reviewing them. I remember first hearing something by them along time ago and thinking to myself "what decade are we in?" It was so nu-metal that I thought I was still wearing my Criminal Damage baggy jeans from when I was 15! The track I heard was actually poorly produced which ultimately let it down for me. However, it turns out that they are one of those bands that need to be witnessed live. 

  Yes, it is old school rapcore. Yes, it is reminiscent of bands like Clawfinger, Senser and Rage Against The Machine, of whom they covered (Killing In The Name, naturally). Yes, it may be considered dated by some...but damn it! I still have a soft spot for it. Frontman, Shimon, does sound a lot like Zack de la Rocha (RATM) albeit with a slight accent, which brings in the Zak Tell (Clawfinger) comparison. Even on their original songs, the solos by guitarist, Kobi, are straight out of Tom Morello's handbook. They also use politically charged lyrics, like on songs such as No More War, Pigs In Ties and Yeti, with its "We will not be controlled by you" refrain (that the band ironically manipulates the crowd into chanting. Haha!)

  Despite the comparisons, the cool, more drum n bass style beats by drummer, Elad, make things more interesting and I can't help but smile. The rest of the crowd were impressed too, getting up on stage with them and generally going crazy. If anything, Coma 7 are damn good fun!

4/5

Eternal Struggle

  They still might be a tad under the radar in the Israeli scene but Eternal Struggle have pulled in a pretty damn big crowd tonight. Maybe it's because of the support acts and the special guests all mixed together. Either way, the atmosphere is buzzing before their set even starts.

  To make things even more fun from the get go, we suddenly feel things fall on top of us, as foam tubes (aka "pool noodles"), beach balls and all sorts of inflatables are released into the crowd as the band open up the set with a yet untitled new song. (I wanted to do something like this for the Woolly Boy comeback show but didn't have the guts to go through with it.) Of course, a few people lose their minds and the place becomes a giant kid-friendly Jedi battlefield. With the band's down-tuned heavy hardcore in the background, it's a surreal yet also amazing moment.

  I will admit that the rest of the show is a little bit of a blur as I was just having so much fun either punching the air or pretending to ride a motorbike (my body does what the music tells it to). However, it is safe to say that the band plays tracks from their Breaking & Entering EP as well as a track called War and a song for all the footie hooligans, Fucking Football Fanatics. The latter sees the place go crazy, because Israeli metalheads like their football, apparently. Each to their own!

  
  As promised on the show's posters and event's info, the band had some friends join them on stage. Arie Aranovich (Ex-Hammercult/ex-The Fading) plays guitar on the beatdown filled crowd-pleaser Lost, which leads to bodies flying about the room and a lot of head-banging, Alon Karnieli (Sinnery) joins in on vocals for Pride Kills, Lemmy Keller (03/Sintax) plays guitar on the bouncy Repeat Nothing near the end of the set and both Eliav Torjman and Ben Saada of Canine join them on guitar and guest vocals respectively. Not only do the Canine boys help out on the Born From Pain-style anthem Tonight We March, this guest appearance brings about the highlight of the night - A FUCKING HATEBREED COVER! Even though they also do their usual cover of Sick Of It All's Take The Night Off later on in the set (for which I go up on stage and go crazy), it's actually hearing I Will Be Heard for the first time in ages which makes me scream at the top of my lungs. Man! I had forgotten how much I used to love that band...

I've said before in previous reviews that Eternal Struggle deserve a bigger and a more in-tuned crowd; tonight seems to have brought that. There may still be the odd person who has just come along to get drunk and shout "HEY!" at random points in songs, but who cares? To me, Eternal Struggle have two important things that I like in my hardcore - groove and beatdowns. It might not be groundbreaking but it does make me want to break shit!

5/5

Photos courtesy of:
Sharon Shapira (for Ganza)
Miguel St. Labao (for Coma 7)
Assaf Bergerbest (for Eternal Struggle)

Roll call for Kids Insane video shoot

Live Review: Copout/Spit/MooM @ Levontin 7, Tel Aviv [10th June 2016]

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.

4/5

Live Review: Kids Insane/Spit/Azor @ Levontin 7, Tel Aviv [3rd March 2016]

With the smaller, more punk venues closing down, more shows have been cropping up at Levontin 7. Tonight sees the return of Kids Insane, with their new guitarist, with support from punk supergroup SPIT and the strange choice of rock band Azor.

Azor

Poor Azor! They've been through the wars. With both drummers and bass players coming and going, guitarist and vocalist Yuval has had a lot on his shoulders to make sure his songs still get heard. Tonight is the first show for new bassist Ofer. Out of all previous bassists, he is the most metal. He alights the stage with a raised fist and plays the entire set with the same posture and charisma of a thrash bassist. He brings along that crowd encouragement that you see at metal shows, such as the "hey" fist pumping and mouthing the words. He even gets down amongst the crowd. He's definitely done this all before and shows no hints of nervousness.

Although musically not being totally in keeping with the rest of the night ahead, Azor's mixture of progressive hard rock and stoner seems to be causing a stir amongst the crowd. Although I've witnessed them have good reactions before, I don't think I've ever seen this much dancing at their shows. It could be that most of those dancing are close friends of the band, but it did encourage others around to join in, creating quite an electric atmosphere all round.
Azor's material does still sometimes come off as dated, reminiscent of Black Sabbath and Led Zepplin, but the creative drumming from Alon makes things a whole lot more interesting. As well as purposely showing off on the fittingly titled The Drummer Is Crazy, High Temp Flight's opening groove displays his talent from the very start of the set.
They may not play my favourite track from the High Tempo Flight album, Natasha, but Port City Girl comes close and has me singing along to as much as I can remember of the song. They also play a new song entitled Muse which does not quite sound like the band of the same name.
Yuval still gives it all he has on stage; his solos get better every time. Despite me being sceptical of the new bassist being "too metal" for this band, Yuval and Ofer seem to have gelled really quickly. Hopefully, this lineup will stick and there will be more shows as fun to watch as this.

3.5/5

SPIT

Consisting of Useless ID bassist/frontman Yotam Ben Horin on guitar, his brother Nadav on vocals (Sweatshop Boys/Mondo Gecko/Shifka Chiefs etc.), Kids Insane frontman Corey Swift on drums (also drummer for Mondo Gecko/Backliners/Tamutamen) and Kids Insane bassist Nadav Rotem on..well..bass, SPIT seems to have been born to bring back the 80s/90s hardcore punk of minute long songs you can skate and/or smash windows to.
 As the band basically play their 18 track debut album, Poison In Your Head, in its entirety, there is not quite as much of a reception dance-wise as there was for Azor. There might not be as many people familiar with the band or the record, but those who are sing along and raise their fists to the likes of To The Bones, R.A.M.B.O, Poison In Your Head and Restart. However, there is a good and obvious reason for the lack of movement; everyone is so engrossed in the spectacle that is Nadav Ben Horin that all you can do is stand and stare in wonder. With the others also playing with intense faces and joining in on vocals, the band as a whole give the performance every hardcore punk band should give.

 As the band zoom through all their quick-fire numbers, the set comes to a close with Flag II. As their longest, slowest and grooviest song, it is the perfect closer and gives Nadav more room to go absolutely bat shit crazy as he exclaims "I SPIT ON YOUR FLAG!". Nadav is known for his eccentric behaviour on stage, almost always ending half naked somehow. Tonight, he goes a little bit further, as he crawls into the "dressing room" area through the hatch, microphone still in hand, and tries to make his way out the dressing room door into the crowd. Unfortunately, the cable isn't long enough, so he returns with his trusty ladder and towers amongst the crowd to eventually dive on top of them for one final crowd surf.

  SPIT need to get out into the States and Europe and I'm pretty sure they will gain a much wider fanbase than they already do. It is pure hardcore punk that's well written, meaningful and still packs a mean punch.

4.5/5

Kids Insane

Both Azor and SPIT seem to have warmed the crowd up nicely as now everyone is up front for Kids Insane. As I write this, I admit that my memory of this is a bit hazy. This is one of those times where I actually got quite involved, doing a bit of dancing and shouting along. However, I can still say that they were totally on form, and even more so with Ofek from DUST now on guitar duties, who also did some great back up vocals.

  As always, the "classic" Kids Insane tracks get a great reception, with fans shouting along and a good amount of pushing and some actual hardcore dancing here and there. Tracks like Story Of A Lonely Street, Frustrated, Don't Need This (personal favourite) and Spread It All Over get the biggest receptions, as well as Same Shit, Different Scene and Love creating some sing alongs.
 With a new album almost ready to drop, the band play some brand new songs, such as set opener Black Burnt, Varicose, Slave and Overthinking. These don't seem to sit well with everyone here tonight but I am personally impressed. Some people simply don't like change and the new material is considerably different to their earlier work. Although Kids Insane may have always had The Bronx in mind as an influence and may have also had a similar "swagger" at times, frontman Corey has really moved his vocals into rock 'n' roll territory, making the influence more apparent. They also seem to have written a few more refrains and hooks which did have some people already repeating and singing along to but could become even more popular at future shows. I am definitely eager to hear and review the new album (hint, hint) as it seems even more up my street than some of their other more recent work. It'll also be interesting to see how different it is in general to their previous records.  

4.5/5

All photos by David "Doh Doh" Rosen

Live Review and Album Review: Knees Please (Where's Ma Money Release Party) + The Great Machine @ Levontin 7, Tel Aviv [5th August 2015]

  The first time I ever saw either of these two bands was, funnily enough, also at a show they played together. It was some special event at a skate park in Tel Aviv. I had never seen or really even heard of these two bands before but I went along and even filmed part of both their sets. From thereon in, I've been quite a dedicated follower of both bands. Tonight, the two band's reunite to celebrate the Knee Please's debut album, Where's Ma Money.

The Great Machine

    These stoners don't get enough recognition. The Great Machine are a band formed by two brothers, Aviran (bass/vocals) and Omer (guitar/vocals), who, at different points over the last few years, have also owned a venue and a rehearsal space. Many tend to class their music as "stoner", whereas others may say "psychedelic". In a way, their repertoire has consisted of a bit of both.
 Instead of the stage, the band are placed in a sort of triangle pattern on the dance floor. Although this makes dancing a little bit more difficult for onlookers, this is the way this kind of band should be playing. It makes it easier to focus on what everyone in the band is doing.  
   Previously, they have been known to perform with female vocalist, Noga Shalev, whose enticing vocals made their sound go a little trippy at times. She seems to no longer be part of the band, resulting in the brothers and drummer Michael playing a heavier, more stoner and sludge influenced set. There's the odd song that I recognise from other shows, but the rest are either album tracks that I don't know or brand new songs. Either way, there is a fair bit of head banging as the trio rock out. 
   Most of the time, Aviran's mic seems far too quiet and he is really only audible in parts of the song where he sings/talks over silence. Personally, it doesn't make that much of a difference as they could easily work just as well as a totally instrumental band. Vocals aside, the sound is fairly good and their playing over all is highly energetic and on point. I was entertained tonight. However, there was a point where I was so sure they were on a new song but they ended up doing the same bit from a good 3 minutes earlier. So this is either quite a progressive song or they added it in to confuse us.  
  
3.5/5

Knees Please

  The first time I saw this band play the skate park, they were a duo called Tape&Rape, a name which actually stuck until some months back, even after becoming a three-piece. Knees Please are essentially still the same band as back then, Alex (guitar/vocals) and David (drums), with a good amount of the same songs only with slight changes here and there. Bassist, Ben (Zaga Zaga), actually plays his last show with the band tonight and will be replaced by another Ben. 

   The band prepare themselves in the same three pointed set-up as The Great Machine as more people start flooding in. After a few welcomes and stoned banter from Alex, the band kick off their set with album opener, Shit Back. This is a good example of the band's early grunge influences a la Melvins and Bleach era Nirvana; being all quiet one moment and then simply exploding into some very low and heavy riffs. Despite it's title, it lyrically comes off as one of the most serious and relatable songs they have.
   The band pretty much continues playing the whole of recently released debut, Where's Ma Money, in full, including other weirdly titled songs like I Came Blood and Sweaty Chicken in Ma Pants. Both songs are from the band's early days and also use that heavy grunge sound. I Came Blood has always been one of those songs that has lyrically made me go, "What on earth is this about?", as Alex seems to be describing a visit to the doctors because of bleeding genitalia. However, the lyrical content is so memorable that it get's people mouthing along. Sweaty Chicken.. still has Alex's mouth trumpet solo, which now works even better over their thicker and fuller sound. I would have loved to have seen someone actually turn up tonight with an actual trumpet...
   Other tracks from the album and the set that come from the Tape&Rape days include Ceiling, Mine and album closer Vacation. Ceiling is probably one of the band's most famous and popular songs, as drummer David pleases people everywhere by giving us "more cowbell" in both the intro. The song is pretty much how it used to be only with some lyrics changed. The song's groove has everyone in the place moving, whether it is just nodding their heads or fully dancing their socks off. Mine, originally "King Of The Garbage", has also had a bit of facelift, with some edited lyrics and added parts. The chorus still has that epic "I'm king of the wooorrld.." line, which gives the song the potential of being quite a hit if they ever get the right publicity. 

   Songs like Motherboard, Sleepy Time and I Lie are what I consider the highlights of the album and their set. New bassist, Ben (Belial), joins the band for Motherboard, a song I had never heard before listening to the album, despite apparently being an old one. Like with Ceiling, it has the most ridiculously cool groove that I had to bust some sort of move. After grooving in the intro, the band then plays a lot of heavy synchronised "stabs", which on first listen sounded sort of lazy and unimaginative but when played live, it makes you want to break stuff. Sleepy Time is a tune I recognise from previous shows, because I always mistook the intro for that of Teenage Kicks, only played in a slightly different rhythm. The song throughout has a bit of a swing to it, which is refreshing compared to the rest. I Lie is almost the band's quintessential grunge track, based on a steady rock beat but freaking out with an explosive chorus. It has an QOTSA feel to it; you can imagine yourself driving 100mph down a motorway in an open top car to this.
   In their set, the band also plays some brand new songs not on the record, such as Muddy, Barry The Lizard, The Sun and Go In Piss. Barry The Lizard especially stands out, with Alex's crazy vocals jumping along with the bouncy rhythm. There seems to be more of a sludge feel in the newer ones which makes the wait for the next album more exciting.
   After about an hour of rocking out, the band finish, all sweaty and tuckered, as the crowd beg for more. Ben bows out gracefully but the original 2 members take us back to their Tape&Rape days with We Said and its infectious "La la la-la" chorus. This was a nice way to end a set, showing how far they've come and that what they were is still a big part of who they are.
   
I've got a lot of love for Knees Please, especially as a live band. Although the album still has some great heavy stuff to rock out to, there are songs that sound a little bit too similar. For example, Sleepy Time and Mine have the same starting chords, making the latter sound like an extension of the former, especially on record. This could have been done to create some sort of underlining theme, but on first listen sounds sort of lazy. The quiet-loud-quiet method also seems a little bit overdone here, despite it's proven effectiveness for decades. If you like bands like Melvins, The Jesus Lizard and even Helmet, check out these guys some time.

Live: 4/5
Where's Ma Money?: 3/5

All photos courtesy of Eddie Botstein. 

Live Review: Mad Choice/The Driers/Yotam Ben Horin @ Levontin 7, Tel Aviv [19th November 2014]

Mad Choice

The Driers

Yotam Ben Horin

I am pretty sure I have witnessed this exact same line-up before, only not at Levontin 7 but at the Koro. Playing a show at a venue the size of Levontin 7 gives a band/artist the chances of gaining a larger audience. In theory....

Yotam Ben Horin

Tonight's show starts off with a solo acoustic set from Yotam Ben Horin. Yotam gained recognition with his pop punk band Useless ID and is also making strides as a solo artist. I actually think it's a shame that every time that I've seen Yotam play a solo set, and even some of Useless ID's shows in recent years, that there is a lack of audience members when the place should be filled. Yotam is actually a big name...I mean..he has a wiki page, for goodness sake! Best thing about him is that he doesn't act it at all. I will see him at shows and he's just hanging out. No hiding away in a back room or surrounded by an entourage, just chilling out on his own.
Although his solo work takes a gentler pace than his pop punk material, he knows how to structure a song and how to write memorable choruses. One of my favourite songs played tonight is a song called Tension. It has a very memorable and meaningful chorus and he even does his own echoing within the song which adds to the song's essence. I hear that Yotam is moving to the states soon...which sucks for the scene. On a positive note, he will hopefully gain the right admiration he deserves as a solo artist.
4/5

The Driers

Whenever I talk to people about The Driers, I relate them to Band Of Skulls. This might be a lazy description. They both have 3 members, they both have male/female dual vocals and they both have really good songs. Whereas Band Of Skulls are more classic rock riff-laden with a slight psychedelic vibe, The Driers play 90s style alt rock which gets you dancing. They still have riffs, though, as songs like Porchlight show. Their songs have a very commercial sound but not in a bad way. Tomer (bass) and Ronnie's (guitar) vocal harmonies give the songs a sweet edge on top of the guitar/bass harmonies and the ferocity of Gideon's (Useless ID) drumming. Speaking of the drummer, boy likes to twirl his sticks! He's inspired me to try and get better at the whole drumming theatrics. Still not entirely sure what I'm doing, though.

Like with Yotam, I feel that The Driers are not getting the right recognition playing quite American sounding alt rock in the Middle East. If these guys were either from somewhere in the states or the UK, they would be signed to something like Warner by now and touring the globe. I am hoping that when their album hits, they get more worldwide recognition and that there will be The Driers T-shirts being worn at rock festivals.
4.5/5

Mad Choice

To round off the night, we get to my boys in Mad Choice. I have a close connection to Doh Doh, Ben and Zipik. When I moved to Tel Aviv, I contacted a few bands in the punk scene in order to get my foot in the door and make a few new friends. After one of the first shows I went to, I ended up going to a house party at Doh Doh's apartment. I got to know all 3 guys individually over time and they have made me feel a part of the scene. They were also very supportive of my first band in Israel, Side Defects. Our first show was on the same night Doh Doh's old band Beer7 had a reunion show. He still came by our show for the beginning of our set, took some photos and then apologetically said his goodbyes and ran to his own show. I will never forget that, nor will I forget that they got us a show with them and German band Schuettrunde. Aside from being great guys, the band are, like the rest of the line-up tonight, totally underrated in this country.

For those unfamiliar with them, Mad Choice play skater punk. At least initially they did. Nowadays they've expanded beyond that. In tonight's performance, as well as playing their punk hits like album track Safety Net and new song (yet already a crowd pleaser) You're Married, they play their more hardcore songs like Born To Play Fast and 4 Down and new tracks like Blue, which has a bit of new age indie feel in places, and Standard Definition, which flicks in between being an uptempo number with a techno beat to a heavy hitting groove jam. They might be one of those bands that seem to be singing about youth problems despite being of....a maturer age...but that's only because that is their lives. They skate, they play punk rock, they work jobs they don't like and that's what they write about. There were some of my favourite songs of theirs missing from the set tonight, but as always, I loved it anyhow.
4/5

The down point of the whole night was that this show was on a Wednesday night, so almost nobody was here. Unfortunately, a lot of the shows I have seen all three acts at seem to also be on weekdays and therefore have the same turn out, or lack of. Hopefully, one day they will all play to packed audiences and gain new fans and the recognition they all deserve.