Full Value Review

MADLINS 1/14/05 FRIDAY SHOW

For people who don’t live in Austin (Texas), Louisville (Kentucky), Detroit (Michigan), along the coast of the mighty Mississippi, or in Temecula, CA, nor in some town with a music scene, you may wonder just what a ‘music scene’ is. After all, professional musicians play so many places and casinos, that people in almost any American town can get to hear music, be it country, western, blues, jazz, classical, bluegrass, R&B, gospel, or rock ‘n’ roll. But a music scene is seen music, made by people on their way up. It is an experience for both those on stage and those in the audience, and one neither forgets. For all the sold out arenas with thousands of people in the audience, the Rolling Stones have said time and again how they really like to play small clubs. Indeed, at the start of every tour they do a first show at some small club under a tight veil of secrecy. The other thing about a music scene is that all the local and regional bands pass through, sometimes more than once. The scene is a place to flex their musical muscles. Madlins is ‘the scene’ in Temecula and it’s a Friday.

SET 1 – THE FUNERAL AND THE TWILIGHT

Months ago I received a CD from this group while at Madlins one evening. They were playing down the street at another spot but on the same night as a show at Madlins, so I said maybe. T’was not to be that night, but this night is was, because they were playing at ‘the scene’. This Murrieta, CA, 4-piece indie experimental band comprised of Jocsan Rangel (keyboards/vocals), Trevor Van Pelt (lead guitar/mini KORG/vocals/mask), Ben Jones (guitar/vocals/used Bauhaus T), and Nathan Blade (black drums with chrome trim) have a Drac meets Fonzi look and feel to them. “We’ve been together for 17 months but we’re more of a studio band. We record a lot.” True, the boys (20-22) haven’t toured at all, just done a few shows around Murrieta and Temecula, but they hope to get a gig up in LA or maybe SD (San Diego not South Dakota). In the meantime, they brought a precession of friends and family to hear them lay down their art house Goth songs of 7-8 minutes apiece, bringing out cries of ‘one more’ at the end of their set. Their space is on myspace, link it up from there.

SET 2 – AS NIGHT FALLS

Returning for a third time to Madlins from the OC, the area, not the TV show, was frontman Steve (lead vocals/outrageous afro), Christian (bass/backup vocals/occasional screams), Marc (guitar), and Heather (guitar/additional vocals). Joining these Orange County shredders was Hector Figueroa, their new drummer, who fit right in to the mix of indie alternative rock with hardcore overtures and hair tosses. Hector had no trouble debuting the new song at Madlins (did I say this was becoming a tradition at most shows here?). The high energy show with good music movement in the stage antics is fun to watch. But you don’t have to take the word of the crowd at Madlins, or my word, just read the comments of the thousands, that’s right, thousands of their closest friends in their space on myspace. Right now the band is in Texas but are due back in CA toward the end of this month. Catch them on tour when they come to a town near you.

SET 3 – ANTI-JINGOISM

When the crowd became a sea of bullet belts, hoodies, bandanas, and jacket studs around titles like ‘Sub-Human’, you know the punks are back in town. This time they’re in town from Santee, CA. As I’ve said before, punk music is music with an edge. ‘Jingoism’ is a term for extreme patriotism, something left over from the last election, if you read the demographic breakdown of the voters who went to the polls. ANTI-JINGOISM therefore represents the opposite viewpoint and showcases the overwhelming viewpoint held by many punk rockers (see SKRATCH magazine issue 104, October) and other musicians. Unfortunately, Leo Mellizeo (bass), Chris Chadwick (drums), Alex Hermenez (guitar), and frontman J.J. Banz cranked out one song before experiencing technical difficulties, but the next band, another punk rock group, came to their rescue in true the-show-must-go-on fashion by supplying Alex with their flying V axe. AJ’s set was short, playing radio appropriate punk rock songs of 2-3 minutes each. ‘We used to sound different so this is all new material’, said one band member. No doubt the newness will continue as the boys are looking for a new guitar player as Alex will be leaving after the completion of their EP, from the skinny on myspace.

SET 4 – DISABLED YOUTH

As happens more than it should at California music shows, crowds leave before the last band comes out, unlike the old school shows where the last band is the headliner and the one most people came to see. This was the case tonight, but it may have been a blessing in disguise, because DISABLED YOUTH, a band from Oceanside, CA, and together for 2 ½ years represent the dangerous type of punk rockers. This three piece, playing tight and powerful punk rock originals displayed the type of power that can turn a crowd from rocking to a mass mosh riot, something verboten (forbidden) at Madlins. These 18 year olds, Steve O (Moog) on bass Vox and additional vocals, Loogie (Lopez) on drums, and guitar hero to the rescue, Dusty (Mitchell) also lead vocals, put out a raw but polished sound that is all power, rebellion, and SEX! They capture the Oceanside edge perfectly, if you’ve ever been down there, after dark when the skater punks come out. Catch this trio of powerpunkers at the Hot Monkey Love Café, SD, on 1/29 (whew, I’m sweating already) or The Mohawk Revolution Festival at Imperial Beach, SD, on 2/5, and see some of the hottest women on the planet at their place on myspace. – PT pant, pant, ROTHSCHILD