The second night of this year’s Sounds of the Street Festival was capped off by yet more Texas punks. In this case, the capital city’s Lower Class Brats. The Austin-borne legends were joined several popular Chicago groups, as well as bands from across the United States. (Check out our coverage of Night #1 here.)
Lower Class Brats, originally from Austin, TX, but presently based out of California, have been tearing up stages for nearly 30 years. The band brought its ferocity to 2105 South State, wasting no time demonstrating why it has such a devoted following. Lower Class Brats, with a song called “Ultraviolence,” takes some inspiration from “A Clockwork Orange.” One of the nods to the Stanley Kubrick film adaption of the Anthony Burgess novel, was the black Bowler atop Bones’ skull. Bones, one of the two remaining founding members in the band, was perpetually in motion throughout the set, He and his bandmates powered through their performance leaving throngs of fans sweaty and satisfied.
The Subversives, out of Minneapolis, MN, have been around since the 1990’s. However, with a new singer, there’s a renewed energy in the form of an intense young singer with the moniker Quinn T. Sensual. Sensual confidently led his veteran bandmates through their time on the stage with piercing confidence. It was a solid set, keeping the fans moving on the floor. The Subversives are back. And quite a few were glad to see it.
Killing Pixies, from Detroit, MI, came out full throttle. Buoyantly fresh sounding, the pop-punk quartet, delivered sweet sounding tunes which also serve as razor-sharp anthems. The band members are far from shy about calling out those who would deny them basic human rights; perhaps the biggest such targets being the men who work to end access to safe and legal abortions. Killing Pixies gave one of my very favorite performances during the weekend. I am excited to see what else they have for all of us in the future. I’m hazarding a guess it will sting in the very best way.
There are many different types of Rotten in the world, and two of them were on display during night 2: Rotten Stitches and Doc Rotten. The latter was up first. Its new lead singer, Johnny Douglas, alternatively scowling and smiling, was clad in an English football-looking Adidas t-shirt. But instead of an advert for a sponsoring airline or cell phone company, the words “Unite” across the front, and “Resist” on the back. Not only do those two words make up the title of band’s 2022 release, but they are a sort of mission statement for the Trenton, New Jersey crew as well. Known for politically charged tunes, this Rotten was relevant while honoring the spirit of the its street punk ancestors.
The other bands on Saturday’s line-up: Squared Off, The Oi!takus, The Decayed, Anti-Feds, and Fear City, all showed off their own brands of street punk, contributing to yet another exciting musical weekend here in Chicago, Check out more photos from Sounds of the Street Festival night 2 below!
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