Just to let you know, Polka Hour at The Happy Dog is insanely and intensely busy. I use the words insane because of the sheer amount of young drunken Polish mayhem led by DJ Kishka’s skipping CDs and LPs and his faux-bearded accordian playing. It was a mistake to have not been expecting this intensity when showing up early.
The place was completely packed, and all I wanted was to sit at a booth, gather my composure and eat dinner in peace before the rock/punk/metal show to ensue. Needless to say, I was not ready for the diverse musical offerings of Verma, All Dinosaurs, Sistered, and Megachurch, which brought a completely different level of intensity (thankfully).
Verma brought forward a blend of psych-tinged noise rock that echoed of Sonic Youth. Their female vocalist uses reverb on her dreamy but intensely passionate vocals, and she enriches the mix with a distorted electric violin and synthesizer ambience. The overall sound is almost meditative, yet still is straightforward rock at times, with solid guitar solos heavily relying on wah and reverb. Overall, the five-piece sounds like an opium lounge at dusk. Their music, though dreamy, does not lack good form or purpose. I wouldn’t normally seek out a band of this style, but I thoroughly enjoyed the trance they created in me.
For a complete change of feel and style, All Dinosaurs was up next. They’re a punk rock four-piece with two guitars and all members participating in vocals. They present an aural barrage of sound with overflowing energy and a deliberately disheveled style. They boast a brotherhood bound for the purpose of putting on a strong rock show, never letting things get boring, and having fun. In true punk-rock fashion, bassist Gheramy climbed onto the bar and rocked from there.
They were celebrating guitarist/vocalist Dave’s birthday with matching t-shirts, and the birthday boy’s guitar solos surprisingly take after Iron Maiden. Overall, it was a very intense set with a lot of cohesion—their amount of practice showed, and if they were playing a different venue I would have been moshing. They’re nice guys, and although I’m not a fan of punk music, I’d check out them out again if I was in a particularly energized mood.
Pittsburgh-based Sistered were unknown to me prior to hearing them live Friday. Generally, they are a stoner metal band with almost a sludgy guitar tone. Demonic screams bursted from both guitarists, reminding me of black metal vocals, although I admittedly haven’t listened to much black metal. It was a pretty intense set for it to be considered stoner metal, as there were punk elements in some songs.
They had a professional demeanor in that all the members were meshed together musically, very coherent. Once again, I heard classic guitar harmonies as in Iron Maiden (or even Thin Lizzy, but of course with completely different tone). Before I knew it, I found myself standing up in my booth, like others at The Happy Dog, headbanging in proper metal form. Very solid and enjoyable set. Although I wouldn’t travel to Pittsburgh to see them, if they came through Cleveland again, I’d stop by.
Megachurch was a great new experience. They’re a truly innovative band, with only two bassists and a drummer, but they don’t only play instrumentals. Instead of having a vocalist, for “vocals” they utilize recorded sermons and speeches of a political, nationalistic, and racial nature, which are extremely potent and effective as protest art. Their bottom-heavy music, is in my interpretation, experimental doom/sludge metal that is sometimes more up-tempo and uses classic metal drumming (once again, similar to Iron Maiden).
They’re really tight as a musical unit changing groove and accent, with their multiple meters and polyrhythms that sounded fluid and effortless, and with the recorded vocals, slowing down to match the natural cadence of speech.
Due to the amount of fluctuation in their groove, it was hard to rock out for long without changing how fast my head was banging, but the challenge was well worth it. I will seek out this band to see them again live, because their performance was powerful. When they make it big, I will be proud to say they’re from my hometown of Cleveland.
