Have Mercy, Pentimento, Gates, Head North, Vice on Victory, Absent Youth

July 14, 2014 • Double Happiness, Columbus, Ohio

Not my first time at Double Happiness, but my first time there for a concert. Definitely the smallest, most intimate show space I've been to that wasn't a house; turns out it's actually a pretty good venue.

Absent Youth

Since there were six bands and I wasn't totally sure what time they were starting, I wound up guessing a bit off and missed almost all of Absent Youth's set—all but one and a half songs. It's unfortunate because from what I did catch they seemed like they were pretty good; kind of your standard heavy-emo stuff I guess. I should look them up.

Vice on Victory

Definitely taking a solid pop-punk turn, though not in a bad way. Songs were pretty catchy with some cool breakdowns (surprising to me, but then again I don't really listen to much pop punk). Not exactly my kind of material, but they still seemed pretty talented and knew how to put on a good show.

Head North

The surprise of the night (there's always at least one, right?), these guys were phenomenal. Another pop punk band with a bit of emo influence and this really uplifting, feel-good aesthetic that was immediately infatuating. Cool stuff.

Gates

I got a real Appleseed Cast vibe from these guys, with a very droney, atmospheric, hypnotizing post-rock vibe. Usually I'm not really into the more post-rock-ish stuff but they do it well, and in the context of this show it was, if nothing else, a nice change of pace. They were great to listen to, too; it was all too easy to just get lost in the wall of sound and zone out. It felt like it was over too quickly, though.

Pentimento

More upbeat pop-punk sort of stuff; not a total mopefest but a bit of that melancholy influence in there. Nice, driving, rhythmic stuff with enough aggression and complexity to that you don't really notice it's pop punk.

Have Mercy

Wound up being way better than I imagined it would be. I guess it always helps my enjoyment of a show when I'm familiar with the material beforehand, and I had spent a lot of time listening to The Earth Pushed Back last year. I can say pretty confidently that the songs work better live, and that's saying something. Absolutely worth coming out for. And unlike a lot of successful bands, these guys were still very genuine and friendly and a joy to see play and talk to.

Varsity Cheerleader – Death to Denton

May 7, 2013 • self-released

Varsity Cheerleader is just a little punk band from Texas, but they sure do make some good stuff. A bit derivative, perhaps, but absolutely worth listening to in its own right.

Death to Denton is some pretty basic old-school punk rock, with plenty of pop punk and a bit of melodic hardcore thrown in, giving it a very early-'90s vibe—kind of like early Descendents or what Minor Threat might have sounded like if they'd lasted a bit longer (maybe). It also has a very well-polished production and a very thick sound (maybe that's what makes it feel '90s).

The riffs and songwriting in general are both really good, leaving songs that are catchy as hell; and it's impressively fast as well. The vocals are the EP's weak spot, as they are a bit buried on some tracks and don't have quite as aggressive of a delivery as this sort of music demands. Interestingly, they get better (and louder) as the EP goes on, so maybe it's an issue they've already fixed?

Anyway, worth picking up (and it's free anyway, so why wouldn't you?).

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