Three local Chicago punk rock favorites played on a cold, wintery night at The Cobra Lounge but in true Chicago fashion that did not stop an eager crowd from showing up on a weeknight.
Dying Scene note: I am excited to share this collaborative piece by myself (Mary) and Dean. All photography is done by Mary and words are by Dean. Enjoy!
Starting it off with The Neighborhood Threat, a 5-piece punk band. They have a nice, classic sort of first-wave sound, a la The Ramones or The Kinks. On stage leading the charge is Kevin Murphy on vocals, screaming his heart out and throwing himself around. Supporting him are Quinn Pokora on lead guitar, Tim Casey on rhythm, Alec Montoya on bass and Dave Catanese on drums. First up is a song called “Escape” and Murphy seems intent on doing just that, falling to his knees and writhing during the breakdown, Casey politely headbanging along, before transitioning into “Nightmares”. “Pretty good for a Thursday night” quips Murphy. Next is “Rose Gallery”, declared favorite of the band. Starting off with a languid bass intro from Montoya, we are soon launched into a wall of rock. Montoya starts bopping around a bit now too, making jokes with Catanese.
The music cuts to just bass and drums, slowly folding in guitar and vocals, before wrapping up with a gnarly breakdown. After is “237”, “The room from The Shining you’re not supposed to go into, there’s like a creepy lady in the bathtub.” Another bass intro, adding in some nice full sounding guitars, layering chords and riffs. Again, we are thrown into a wall of sound, with Montoya lunging forward through the chorus, with Murphy screeching like a stuck cat, Pokora accentuates the vocals with a high lick. It peters out into a false ending, before slamming back with even more chaotic sounding guitars, Murphy leaving us with a refrain of “Don’t go in room 237.”
Now we are shown “Another heavy number, about the nuclear apocalypse.” Pokora gives us some delicious harmonics, backed by ripping chords from Casey. Montoya gives backing vocals through the chorus. The bridge is stripped away to just drums, with Pokora soloing. We come crashing back out for the ending with Murphy clutching the microphone like it is the last clean water he will drink in his life.
After is “Midnight”, during which Murphy stepped on his mic chord, but they manage it well. Then comes “Razorblade”, a song about “Toxic love.” Someone in the crowd yells “I love that song!” to which Murphy replies “Yo me too, cut me baby,” diving in headfirst with a yowl. This number is fast, needy and anxious, that has the rest of the band dancing along like tin men, compelled to move their rusty joints by their trusty magician.
They close out with a high riff from Pokora, with a tight, tapping arpeggio. This next one is a bit different from the rest of the set, called “Violet Marie”, about “Falling in love with a stripper.” Catanese plays with just sticks, cymbals, and rimshots, while Pokora and Casey fill in with some sweet, jazzy, broken chords. Montoya cuts in with a bass riff, which devolves into a more familiar punk sound.
They close out with “Death March”, Casey using an almost country style intro, supporting Pokora as he riffs high up the neck of his guitar, accenting Murphy’s vocals. Everything cuts out and we are left with just Murphy, dancing with his mic stand. With a death scream, he falls to the floor, and we are thrown into the music again, winding up faster and faster, before Murphy sits up again and gives us one final yell.
Next up is Sweetie! Three extremely sweet people, who let me buzz anxiously around them and Mary before the show. Fronted by Birdy V on guitar and vocals, she is supported by Joe Soldati on upright bass and Ryan G on drums. Even just from soundcheck, you can tell all three are just some goofy people, having fun and doing what they love on stage, messing around and joking with each other. Set up and ready to go, Birdy yells to a near empty room “Hey everybody at the bar! If you don’t hurry up and come in here, none of you are invited to my birthday party!” (“Or subsequent orgy!” supplies Joe). Ultimatum set, we run right ahead into “Catholic Boy”, an almost ‘Planet Claire’ style drawling, cheeky, serenade. “We are Sweetie, thank you for the encouragement, it’s a weeknight,” quips Birdy. “Cold beer is good for your voice, right?”
Next up is “Devil Girl”. Digging deep into her chest for her voice, we’re rolled into the next number, something with a jumping, jiving, rockabilly sort of sound, which has Joe grinning like a mad man and taking to his bass like a lover. Now addressing a filled room, (or, as filled as can be for a Thursday night), Birdy chirps “Since you’re all invited to my birthday and surprise orgy, we are selling nipple tassels, and Lollygagger is selling ball gags.”
Faster, almost sleazy, we are brought through “Teeth”, sometimes feeling a bit like something from Heart. Simple but succinct and to the point, Birdy rips through power chords on her sick, two-pronged guitar, while Ryan accentuates his drumming with some nice use of cymbals. Birdy’s eyes are opened wide through the chorus, flashing the whites like a cat.
Everybody cuts out, and Ryan counts us off into “Love Lucy”, a languid, gentle, almost mocking piece. A main refrain of “La la la las,” with Ryan opening his mouth like a snake, in rapture from his bass. They lean towards each other, playing for each other and laughing like a shared secret. Following is “Chum”, with Ryan using mostly cymbals as an intro, softening out into overdriven guitar, before coming back around again with an almost bouncing gait on the toms. With a sarcasm essential to put-upon misfits, Sweetie ambles ahead with the song, like a self-depreciating joke you just-so-happen to be allowed to get in on. Guitar and drums almost having a conversation, before breaking with a phaser-heavy solo. Joe picks up his hands like a dinosaur, before picking up his bass as easy as a briefcase, waddling over to Ryan, and headbanging at him through the outro. Birdy is back, chatting on the mic, saying “Once again! We are Lollygagger, also Birdy is my favorite person in the world and I love her.”
With vocals only in French, Birdy serenades us through “La Vie”, backed by wistful rimshots. With syllables murmuring like the ocean, Birdy rolls her eyes for the octave change in the verse, a lonely thing with just her, pausing, then the rest of the band rushing in to help. Joe solos the intro for “Howl”, the next song, with Birdy winding up with some sick feedback on guitar. With a yowl, we are thrown into the song, Joe leading the charge with his bass. And for a massive instrument, he throws it around like dancing a foxtrot, laying it across his lap and leaning back, lunging towards Birdy, and finally almost sawing it in half through the finish.
Birdy’s on the mic again, asking us to “Go around, and have everybody say one nice thing about yourselves, Mary you go first.” She laughs, apologizes and says, “We lied, we’re not Lollygagger, we’re actually The Neighborhood Threat” (Murphy yelling “Wait!” from the crowd). With that we are lead through “Mama”, with some dirty, slow, sexy guitar, and a drumroll from Ryan shoving us towards something faster. Joe is electrified by his bass again, yelling “Get it!” before leaning forward with backing vocals. Everything cuts out to just guitar, Birdy almost monologuing with it, before jumping into the full song again, ending on a refrain of “Let me be.” Closing out with “Cha Cha Heels”, Joe gives us a quick intro, before launching into the song. Anxious and fast, this one finishes with a call and response chorus.
You can catch Sweetie at their music video release show on March 15th at Gman Tavern in Chicago!
Finally, Lollygagger! A veteran, Chicago, 3-piece punk band. Before I found Mary and Sweetie, I was anxiously huddled at the bar (and getting carded for ordering a ginger ale). A particularly awful Nic Cage movie was playing on the TV, and I managed to calm down a little listening to these three dudes rip poor Nic apart. Lo and behold, they ended up being the headliners! Go figure. On vocals and guitar, we have Matthew Muffin, wearing a mechanics jumpsuit. On bass is Kinsey Ring and drumming is Michael Sunnycide, wearing a vest with patches, gelled hair in a mohawk, and one of the aforementioned ball gags around his neck. Starting off with a song “About a bar, not this bar, but essential to the Liars Club Lollygagger experience” is “Liars Club”. Mr. Muffin, putting most of his effort into screaming, is supported by a sick riff from Ring.
With a held screech followed by a cute solo, we transition to “Bombs Away”, with bass and drums coming back in to transition. Even though the drums are (relatively) calmer in this song, Sunnycide is still bouncing out of his seat. Ring leads, with a nasty riff on bass, while Matthew basically plays rhythm, howling away on the mic. This next song has a name that “Basically means no more tyranny. If you’ve checked the news lately, or talked to anyone, you’ll find it everywhere. Anyways, we’re a band called Sweetie” (with woops from actual Sweetie in the crowd.)
Orating like a politician in the verses, and punctuating the pre-chorus with aggressive eyebrow maneuvering, the Muffin man is in perfect caricature like a sketch artist. Sunnycide looks to Matthew through the pre-chorus with a face like a dog waiting on the word to attack. And attack he does, beating the drums like they owe him money, with Matthew calling for a circle pit to open up (it tragically didn’t happen, but most of the people dancing started dancing harder for him at least).
Birdy chirps “Makeup’s for girls!” to which Muffin replies “Ya bitch, anybody can sparkle. This next one goes out to Sweetie!” This song is “About how controlling religion is while also being so interesting. Like going into church and being like what the fuck, are you tithing me?” With a pick slide, we are thrown into “Found In The Dirt”, Matthew narrating like a children’s author, but with a heavy dose of sardonic chastising. The music swarms together and then falls apart, cutting to just Sunnycide leaning on his toms. Ring builds tension with the bass, before Muffin cuts back in, summoning a holy ghost through his solo. “This song is about rocking through your 20’s, with no regards to your back health.” “Schmorgishbord” opens with a solo from Ring, who looks at his hand with the awe and wonder one would hold over a familiar summoned to shred. With a mild “One two three four!” we’re gently pushed into the song, Sunnycide and Muffin hammering away. Matthew leads us into “Dopamine Cops” with a chant, “When I say, ‘Fuck you’, you say dad! Fuck you, dad! Fuck you, dad!” With a sound markedly toned down compared to the rest of the set, Muffin almost drunkenly slurred his words in the verse, backed by melancholy sound from Ring and Sunnycide. Matthew lunges forward screaming again through the chorus, before cutting to just him again, voice echoing back and forth through some sort of delay effect, backed by a simple guitar riff. Sunnycide tumbles in behind him on the drums, Ring following close behind, Muffin finally calling screeching feedback with his guitar with vocals caught between it like memories.
“So, despite the name, my boss is actually a really nice guy, but I want you to imagine YOUR boss, and punching him right in the face!”, we’re dragged screaming into “My Boss Is a Dick”, with simple chords and just cymbals. Muffin rages through the chorus, laughing maniacally as if at an ironic joke, Sunnycide and Ring nodding along in collusion. Ring solos out of there, hand crawling over his bass like a spider, while Muffin looks on both delighted and impressed. Matthew takes this moment to introduce the band, calling himself “Dingus Khan, with drums from Michael Sunnycide, and Mr. Wizard Fingers himself on bass… Everybody say, ‘I love you Sweetie’ (“I don’t love no man” from Birdy), I love you Neighborhood Threat! This next song is about sausages, cause that’s what my drunk drummer is yelling at me. It’s called ‘Might Methuselah’s Salami’.”
“You know, 8-year-old me would be stoked, yelling about sausages to a room full of people. I’ve always been a fan of tubular meat.” Somewhere within that sausage story, Sunnycide donned a ball gag. They blast through this song, with Sunnycide opening his eyes wide during the chorus, and (trying) to scream along.
Closing out the evening is “Stone”, Muffin dramatically reciting the interludes like a Greek chorus, while Sunnycide stands up and conspiratorially raps on his cymbals. Sitting down again, he damn nearly bites a chunk out that gag while he beats the life out of his drum set. Ring nods his head like a maestro conducting his orchestra, before looking endearingly at Muffin as he beats the life out of his guitar. They leave the stage while tracing a heart in the air, saying “We love you, go home, tip your bartenders, we’re Lollygagger…I mean Sweetie.”
Check out the full gallery below!
