The Cruel and Unusual, with Poor Dumb Bastards, Hobble, Dick Delicious and Southern Riot

Just when it seems punk has gone completely corporate (think Good Charlotte) or has become a nostalgia circuit (Cramps, Buzzcocks), here comes a show like this -- one with a youngish act like Austin's the Cruel and Unusual duking it out with Houston's legendary PDB and three other bands. The C&U's singer-guitarist Eric Unusual spits sick lyrics ("Life may be a bitch but at least we all die") over a guitar with just enough twang to tell us that, yes, this is indeed an Austin band, punk or no. The trio's cover of the Beatles' "Run for Your Life" fits right in with the C&U's genuinely dangerous white riot vibe much more so than it did in John Lennon's hippie hands.