The Loved Ones on 3/25

The Loved Ones played with Cobra Skulls and Flatliners at Kilby Court, which is one of the most entertaining spots in the city for me. It's a garage that could maybe fit two cars in a pinch, tucked at the end of an alleyway with an outside area that holds a fire pit with chairs and benches arranged around it. There's a sign on the ticket booth that says "NO MOSHING! sorry brutal dudes!", and most of the walls are covered in band stickers or posters for upcoming shows. There's another run-down tiny building with a table for merch, and across the alley there's one of the grossest venue bathrooms I've seen yet and dingy rooms that have "Bands only!" scribbled on the doors. I've only been to two shows there, and each time the microphones have been barely functional--for this show, most of the bandmembers wrapped bandanas around the mics to keep their lips from getting shocked. I try to support its existence whenever I can.

It's probably quite the feat if you manage not to connect with the audience in a venue so small, and every band that played had fun with us. While I enjoy the physicality that comes with punk shows, on a musical level I can rarely get into classic, old-school hardcore punk. The material starts sounding the same to me after a few songs, and I start itching for something with more melody and less monotonous screaming.

But Cobra Skulls kept a punk sound and still let themselves show off musically, throwing out skillful bass lines and interesting rhythms, and they never bored me. They added rockabilly and ska elements and plenty of wit, playing songs about Ted Haggard and, my favorite, a song in Spanish about Che Guevera t-shirts in strip malls. Flatliners had more classic thrash, their vocalist more of a screamer and their music a little simpler, but they were still a solid band that put on an extreme and enthusiastic show. The frontman broke a guitar string and his guitar strap in the first song, and their momentum just kept building. It's not necessarily music that I'd seek out on my own, but they were great performers and hooked me in for their whole set.

I bought The Loved Ones' Build & Burn shortly after it came out, a little over a month ago. It immediately became one of my favorite recent albums, and I'm always surprised that more people don't know about it. It's pop-punk with Americana and emo influences that isn't afraid to stretch all kinds of musical boundaries, with hopeful and catchy melodies that worked their way quickly inside my heart and a sound that's wholly their own.

They played with so much fucking charm. Dave Hause's voice was scratchier, a lot more raw than it was on the album but still retaining the fullness (combined with just the slightest emo whine) that grabbed me. He had so much fun with the audience, with banter topics ranging from Applebee's to rating which of the opening bands was more buff to upcoming punk shows in SLC to making gentle fun of NOFX. Their newest album is full of slick guitar lines cleverly laid over each other, and their live show definitely emphasized that--the riffs and shredding that begin 'The Bridge' was one of the highest points of the show for me. They also knew how to take full advantage of all the contrasts they've created on the album, such as the intro to 'Selfish Masquerade.' They're an older, experienced band, and the show was perfectly executed but still full of warmth.

The Loved Ones finished their set off with what is probably my favorite song off Build & Burn, 'Louisiana.' It's an ideal song to finish off a set, with a subdued, building intro that explodes into a pounding song with euphoric shredding, a tense excited bridge that echoes the intro, and lyrics that demand shouting along, not to mention a powerful message about Hurricane Katrina. They pulled off the big finish with flourishes and gusto, and ensured that their audience left the garage with bared-teeth grins and their hearts beating louder.

But beyond just playing well live, they made my night better in a different way when they launched into a rant in defense of their female fans and women in general. "Apparently we're not punk?" Hause joked as they recounted an incident with some other punk rockers. 'Whatever happened to punk rock?' was the sulky response they'd received when speaking up against the punks for misogynist speech. Hause went on to earnestly emphasize the importance of respect to women, asking his female fans to tell sexist assholes to fuck off.

They didn't say anything new or groundbreaking, but I wish it were less rare to hear rants like this from male musicians. The music industry is still weighed down by misogyny, and it seems like everywhere I look there's a musical subculture that wants to reject the mainstream, but has held onto mainstream misogyny. It's going to take proactivity to change the ugly concept that if you let too many women into your music scene, it will somehow become inauthentic and worthless. The music I love doesn't always fit in perfectly with my personal politics, and I'm fiercely protective of that combo when I do find it. I have a feeling my devotion to The Loved Ones will last a good long while now.


Louisiana - The Loved Ones
The Bridge - The Loved Ones