What a surprise, I was back at Pub Yahoo again! Will I ever escape the falling drunk old man and bloody chicken of the renown dungeon of Carol Stream? Find out in this episode of
The Salmonella Alcoholics Woohoo...I mean Yahoo.
Unlike the other times that I had taken a trip to Pub Yahoo, this time I was here not to see Bet the Levels. Instead, I was actually here to see two bands. Rome the Ruins was one of them but I had already seen them and will be seeing them again this Saturday. On the other hand, my primary interest was with a band called Save the Son: a hardcore punk band that dances the line between hardcore and noise-punk. I mainly had an interest in Save the Son because the bass player was Brendyn Wirtz: the co-lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist of Bet the Levels. So I was anticipating a solid show.
Nocturnal Twins
The night started off pretty lousy.
Nocturnal Twins are an acoustic guitar duo that attempts covers of mostly punk songs. With a bit of polish on vocals and guitar composition, the act could have been alright. It certainly wasn't downright awful like
Runch or
Paul Revere and the Raiders but it could have been better. Most of the time, the singing was slightly flat. It really wasn't that noticeable but when you include the idea of out of key singing voices with an acoustic guitar act, it makes it sound exponentially worse than it really is. The other big thing was that they played mostly power chords which ran rather thin for their acoustic guitar show. If they got out electric guitars and joined up with a drummer and bassist, I'm sure it would have been fine. However, as an acoustic show, I'm going to have to give this performance an obvious thumbs down.
Test Remedy
Either they didn't show, I missed them, or they are so unmemorable that I don't even remember seeing them. I checked
their Facebook page, they don't look familiar...
Rome the Ruins
Now, I already saw
Rome the Ruins at
The Bartlett Arts Festival earlier this summer so I won't beat a dead horse on this one. They were about the same as the first one. They aren't going to blow you away but they'll definitely keep you interested for the whole set. This time, they did a pretty good cover of AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" but other than that, not much to really take note of that we didn't hear the first time. I found it rather unwise of them to not include their cover of Lorde's "Royals" in this set. However, they found a way to cram in that cheesy Denny's song into the end of the set. It wasn't more or less irritating than the first time, however, what is worth noting is the rumor I heard that Denny's had retweeted the song on their Twitter page. I can't say for sure whether that's true or not.
Eden
Other than having a difficult Facebook page to find due to how bland the band name is,
Eden is a more than ordinary metal influenced rock band. At times, the singer will remind you of Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails with guitar riffs that will remind you of Judas Priest. It's a functioning combo, to say the least. Like Rome the Ruins, they will keep your attention but won't turn you into a dedicated fan. What was probably most noteworthy about the band was some of the hardware they were using. Half stacks, full stacks, and it was hard for any musician to not recognize the unique neck of the lead guitarist's Parker. Most musicians will also know that most Parkers are incredibly expensive. Whoever this band was, they were getting a lot of money from somewhere.
 |
It's obvious when you are looking at a Parker due to the
skinny head on the neck and the similar cutaways on the body |
Known by Numbers
Known by Numbers is not only an impressive metalcore band, they are by far the best metalcore band I have heard at Pub Yahoo. ...Though, I suppose this isn't saying much on the account I've only seen one other metalcore band at Pub Yahoo but nevertheless, this band is a fantastic live show. Surprisingly enough, the lead singer didn't hit his head into the short ceiling and surprisingly enough, a mosh pit didn't break out. If they played
back in April when Bet the Levels played, I'm almost sure that a mosh pit would have broke out. Along with being the best metalcore band at Pub Yahoo, they are also the only band I've seen use props at Pub Yahoo. They had this large, glowing skull on top of the bass player's Acoustic (for those of you unfamiliar, a brand name of
electric amplifiers. I know, it's confusing) full stack. It's one single prop but it certainly catches your attention.
As far as their sound, it's very clear and defined which is pretty difficult for any band in the metalcore or deathcore genres to pull off. The vocals are intense, the guitars give you a solid thrashing, the bass gives you a thorough whipping, and the drums finish you off with a one-two floor tom cymbal crash combo to the face. If you can catch these guys for free or along with another band you want to see, I highly recommend it.
Save the Son
The last band of the night,
Save the Son, was more than a satisfying way to end the night. With driving, gritty guitars and explosive vocals, it brings back a genre of punk that has been generally forgotten with age. There just aren't a whole lot of hardcore punk bands left. Seeing a hardcore punk band like Save the Son in a dark and low brow bar like Pub Yahoo was certainly a treat. What is most notable about Save the Son is their stage presence. They bring the music to you by lying on the floor in the audience, screaming into their microphones so hard that they cause the microphone stands to fall down, and playing their active bass so aggressively that the battery pack falls out of the back and the instrument ceases to function.
Another thing about Save the Son is that they brilliantly dance the tightrope between hardcore and noise-punk. For those of you who don't know what noise is (yes, it actually is a genre of music), noise is basically all of the things you wouldn't want to do in a composition of actual music and ...well, doing it anyways. True noise is really just utter crap. You say that's my opinion? Yeah, it's my opinion and I say that I've heard better things coming out of elementary school symphonic orchestras that just picked up their instruments for the first time.
But anyways, I like how Save the Son incorporates the feel of noise into some of their songs. It really adds to the chaotic feel that hardcore brings. All in all, Save the Son is a band that you should definitely keep an eye out for if you are looking to have a great time on a Saturday night.
Oh yeah, so to answer the question at the beginning of this post "Will I ever escape the falling drunk old man and bloody chicken?"
No, no I won't.
