In contemporary punk and hardcore music, it seems as though every band, popular or not, is trying to add their own special flair to their music in one way or another. For some, it’s plugging into a Boss HM2 pedal and praying that no one realizes that all your songs are regurgitated Dismember riffs. For others, it’s having very basic song structure, a good drummer, and a vocalist who is trying his best to appear crazy even though all he did was take his clothes off on stage. Let’s face it people, we all take our clothes off every day, there is nothing really groundbreaking about it.
The point is that people who attend punk and hardcore gigs these days have seen it all, they are more or less desensitized to all forms of creative expression, and nothing really comes across as shocking or unique. It is of course reasonable to say that not every band is going to have the reincarnation of GG Allin as their vocalist and not every band is going to be good enough to reinvent the wheel. Being consistent and having a good steady pace and array of time changes in your tunes is what will always make punk and hardcore crowds bang their heads and hit the pit.
With this in mind, Houston’s Dress Code plays their strengths by keeping things simple and aggressive. Dress Code deserves much respect, because instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, they have chosen to utilize the current wheel to roll over and destroy everything in their path. Their music is an ideal combination of hardcore and punk, and is reminiscent of 80’s hardcore classics like SSD and Void with sprinkles of modern hardcore placed on top. It is everything you will need to stage dive, circle pit, drink a 40oz, fuck a stranger, and still wake up on time for your shitty job where you perpetuate a vicious capitalist cycle all day long!!!!! Now you’re probably thinking, “this sounds great, where do hear this beautiful music?” The answer my friends lies directly below.
Chris Alfano
January 31, 2015 at 5:42 pm
Love the old school vibe here. Great stuff