No Parents - Doug Fir Lounge, Portland OR - April 30, 2016

[Los Angeles, CA] Uncomfortably trashy. One band member was wearing a Bud Light t-shirt and a studded neck collar for gods sake. Who knew neck collars came in different flavors but they do… and this one was the uncomfortably trashy flavor – thin and studded with fake diamonds. We’d unwittingly passed another band member, long dark hair bleached blonde, picking at his nipple in the venue’s restaurant. Their first song started with some pot reference and I gave Flame an encouraging smile – see, you’ll like them! Turned out the pot reference was an intro to their song “Die Hippie Die” – not so much... And then I just fell flat in love with them. Stupid vaguely offensive songs: Cock Surfer, Punk is So Easy, Wall of Death, Hello Grandma Merry Christmas I’m in a Punk Band. Picture perfect cover of all varieties of old southern California punk – Falme heard NOFX (in the end, he liked them too), I heard Rancid. Skatepunk, hardcore, rowdy pop punk. In the end, the lead singer was the thing. He was deliciously terrible. Incongruent sleazy booty-shaking dancing. Introduced the song “Cock Surfer” with a flourish. Hard but musical - joy and fun – seriously!

Comments