OFF! with Cerebral Ballzy, Retox, Women in Prison [Show Preview]

Off! (Photo by Dan Monick)

OFF! with Cerebral Ballzy, Retox and Women in Prison
Thursday, October 13
Red 7 (611 E. 7th St.)
$12, 9pm - All Ages
[info] | [tickets]

There are three kinds of shows that you just absolutely must see: those by legendary and still vital performers who can be listed amongst artists who founded a genre that forever altered the musical and cultural landscape, bands that are possibly the absolute best currently playing in their genre, and those that will absolutely kick your ass and blow your mind with a show that you will never forget no matter what the genre. Tonight, all three of those factors come together to form a hardcore vortex at Red Seven that is guaranteed to get you OFF!

At Fun Fun Fun Fest 2010, what might have been a jaunt to the black stage to see Keith Morris because, well, you just have to see Keith Morris, led to the astonishing realization that the bar for hardcore was being raised by one of the founding fathers of that genre more than 30 years after he formed Black Flag with Gregg Ginn. At their official showcase at SXSW 2011, it was clear that OFF! had developed into a landmark band in their own right, regardless of the formidable sum of the band’s members’ histories. What it comes down to is that OFF! is stacked with some of the best musicians you’ll find in hardcore or any genre within a couple of degrees of it. What started with a few demos Morris made along with bassist Dimitri Coats of Burning Brides during session breaks for a new Circle Jerks album grew into a stellar band that includes another SoCal hardcore lifer, guitarist Steven McDonald of Redd Kross. It’s all solidly nailed down by drummer Mario Rubacalba of Rocket From The Crypt. Some of punk’s best, most experienced performers have gotten together and are very successfully reminding people how great hardcore can be.

Brooklyn thrash punks Cerebral Ballzy blazed through several events in Austin during SXSW 2011, and some of what happened isn’t printable. At least one party prompted a sort of “intermission” during which the band refused to leave the stage but rather broke out into an extended version of a song that’s probably titled “Fuck the 5-0.” These guys absolutely would not leave the stage, that party did not stop, and Cerebral Ballzy continued to rage. Since then, the band’s released an eponymous album of frantic punk rock that sounds untouched by anything that’s happened since the mid 1980’s. They’re fast, they’re fresh, and as fun as punk gets.

Southern Californian’s Retox are an impressive sounding band that mixes punk, metal, thrash and a touch of math into a distinctive hardcore sound at such a furious pace that you won’t have time to think about genres. Locals Women in Prison, featured on Casual Victim Pile II, open up with primal punk that might set you off on a long search for lost ‘70s punk platters.

OFF!: [official]
Cerebral Ballzy: [official]
Retox: [official]
Women in Prison: [Hozac Records]