Bomb the Music Industry!, Laura Stevenson and The Cans, LIMB, Lisa's Sons Walter's March 30, 2012
New York natives Bomb the Music Industry! is a project spawned from Jeff Rosenstock of Arrogant Sons of Bitches after they broke up. Bomb the Music Industry! provides anthems for taking life with a grain of salt while sounding like buckets of adolescent fun, in the best way possible.
At Walter's Friday night, Bomb the Music Industry! provided Houston with, fittingly enough, some bombastic tunes and good times, and had most of the crowd riled up and singing along. People were, you know, having fun.
They opened up with the first song on their newest album Vacation, which starts off sounding like a more melodic indie-rock song, and then throws into something louder. Their new album is a little bit more melodic than their previous albums, but it still contains the same spirit nonetheless.
As pictured above, by throwing into something louder I mean they played past having to tune their guitars -- they kept playing past guitar strings breaking.
More specifically, they contain the pop-punk cheekiness of maybe Dillinger Four, though they are said to claim Harvey Danger and Neutral Milk Hotel as influences, and some of their work falls into ska. Again, they're armed with a killer sense of humor, while singing upbeat songs about dramatic subjects such as, say, alcoholism and joblessness, and just getting though the daily pitfalls of life.
Also notable is that front man Jeff Rosenstock helped found Quote Unquote Records, which mirrors his DIY ethics, etc. Did I mention that the entirety of Bomb the Music Industry!'s discography is available to download for free on the Quote Unquote Web site?
They get what DIY means to a band in this Internet age. Since their start in 2004, word naturally spread, and their records have gotten a lot of positive buzz in the online punk community, at least. And fittingly enough, their shows remain under $10, and are now always all ages.
Friday night's show lasted from about 9 p.m. to about 1a.m., making it just about a full night's worth of an event. The bands playing were all different, but similar in terms of their performance spirit.
Bomb the Music Industry!, Laura Stevenson and The Cans all hail from the same group of New York friends, with Laura Stevenson having played the keyboard in Bomb the Music Industry! before piecing together her own band. Lisa's Sons and LIMB are both local folk.
Lisa's Sons was the opening act. Known for heckling their audience, on Friday night the band encircled the crowd, repeating several times, "You're my best friend!" A friend at the show said they were a "cacophony of good times." I think that's what they go for.
