Where have all the punks gone? They must be around.
There were a whole lot of punk and metal shows this summer, some well attended, others not so much.
The Sept.
3 show featuring East Vancouver punk band The S--t Talkers and Shockload at Inferno fell into the latter category. The show, dubbed the “ShitLoad Tour” by Shit Talker lead vocalist Liz Mantle, started late, waiting for a crowd that never came, but the handful who did show on a drizzly Thursday, were entertained with a nod to the ’90s from both bands.
Female punks the Shit Talkers were up first with their ’90s Riot Grrrrl sound reminiscent of bands like L7, Sleater Kinney and Hole plus a touch of Vancouver punks CUB.
They started off slow, but vocalist/guitarist Liz Mantle, drummer / vocalist Nadja Feutlinske, bassist Michelle Duff and guitarist/ vocalist Lina Machina quickly found their footing with plenty of buzzsaw guitars, dissonant riffs and shouted vocal harmonies giving them that CUB sound.
One of their songs was bilingual, which they followed up with a highlight “ All of My Friends.” Mantle and Feutlinske alternated singing lead vocals.
Their last song “I’m Just a Canadian” ended their set on an energetic note.
While the Sh-t Talkers channeled the spirit of the Riot Grrrl movement, East Vancouver trio Shockload channelled the spirit of ’90s pop punk like Green Day and Blink -182 with a touch of screamo and a few metalesque riffs.
Shockload played short, sweet and ridiculously catchy bursts of pop punk energy which lead to lots of leaping around and a penis on sunglasses sporting frontman Ryan Ruin’s white Les Paul. That broke off mid set.
Bassist Mike Chapman sung one song while drummer Jamieson Vegas was a blur of frenetic energy, adding his own pair of sunglasses mid set.
They played some new material and several songs from their CD Attractive Distraction.
A highlight of those was a song about Vancouver hockey riots.
The show ended just before midnight.
