Potty Mouth at Kung Fu Necktie
Potty Mouth are probably my favorite pop-punk band, in part because they're more punk than pop. Anyone can do pop nowadays. Being edgy and still catchy at the same time is so much harder and Potty Mouth do it so well. I'm glad they finally released that second album and I hope the third is just is good and comes out maybe like tomorrow or something.
Posted: 7/7/2019 at 10:10pm Tags: Kung Fu Necktie Potty Mouth
Tact at Kung Fu Necktie
Tact are Philly punk band who are dang hard to Google. Too bad, because their live performances are energtic and their album is well worth checking out. More people should know about them.
Posted: 7/7/2019 at 10:00pm Tags: Kung Fu Necktie Tact
Summer Cannibals at Kung Fu Necktie
Summer Cannibals have some blunt lyrics and do not hide them behind a wall of noise. The music is still raucous of course. If you like bands which are both deep and ass-kicking then maybe check them out, eh?
Summer Cannibals' Website, Music.
Posted: 4/29/2019 at 11:15pm Tags: Kung Fu Necktie Summer Cannibals
Dark Web at Kung Fu Necktie
Dark Web mix sci-fi themes with high-energy (and high-anxiety) garage rock. Call it paranoid post-punk from Philly. Did you notice that their lead singer was wearing an X-Files hat? Super, super appropriate.
Posted: 4/13/2019 at 11:30pm Tags: Dark Web Kung Fu Necktie
Warbly Jets at Kung Fu Necktie
My 90's sense is tingling. If I didn't know better I would have sworn Warbly Jets were, well, British for one thing. From song to song they flow from jangly rock-n-rollers to floaty, vaguely psychedelic hymns to their more recent cool electro-meditations on modern society. Through it all their sound is always a little bit suave, a little bit classy. Intensity is implied through style and attitude, not just volume. Seems British to me. Or more accurately it reminds me of alternative radio from the era of the Second British Invasion, my college days, back in the 90s. Like the rock bands tho, not the "Britpop" bands, the real rock-n-rollers.
Posted: 2/10/2019 at 1:00pm Tags: Kung Fu Necktie Warbly Jets
The Fleshtones at Kung Fu Necktie
Not sure I have anything new to say about The Fleshtones. I definitely was not expecting all of that literal jumping around from a band which formed in the 70s. This was just a damn fine rock-n-roll show to a packed house, as it should be.
The Fleshtones's Website, Music.
Posted: 2/3/2019 at 9:00pm Tags: Kung Fu Necktie The Fleshtones
Control Top at Kung Fu Necktie
I suppose now that I live in Philadelphia I should photograph a Philly band or two, so here we go. I wanted to photograph Control Top because they are the best punk band I've found in this town so far.
Perhaps that's a controversial statement. For one thing I'm calling them punk even though they call themselves "post-punk" on their Bandcamp. That's a matter of opinion, fine, but I for one think that any band loud and aggressive enough to keep up with the metal bands on this bill should be called actual punk. Let me put it this way: their recent single "Type A" is much closer to their current sound than the songs from their older demo tape, but even that is noticably mellower than their live show.
As much as I love the vibe at Kung Fu Necktie it's a bit on the small side and has small-venue lighting, unfortunately. I think only the lead singer was actually lit up by the spotlights during the set. Oh well, I'm probably the only one who cared. Still a good show.
Posted: 12/31/2018 at 3:00pm Tags: Control Top Kung Fu Necktie punk
