Rockness Recommends
The Night Marchers won't sneak up on anybody.
April 29, 2008
It was a brutally hot and sunny day in Austin when we checked out The Night Marchers at this year's SXSW. How hot and sunny was it? It was so hot and sunny that I went to this booth not far from the stage and spent ten bucks on a pair of sunglasses with lenses outlined in silver rhinestones. It was so hot and sunny that just a few minutes before I watched fifteen minutes of stand-up comedy at the same venue's side-stage before realizing that I was at SXSW watching stand-up comedy. That's how hot and sunny it was. But it was worth it to bake in fake jewelry and have a head full of horrific jokes in order to see John Reis' new band. And let me tell you, The Night Marchers were a well-oiled machine. They knew how to play their instruments, that's for sure.
As mentioned approximately three lines ago (but it seems like forever ago due to the paragraph break), San Diego's The Night Marchers is John Reis' new band. Don't shake your head. You know John Reis! Of course you do! Over the musical course of close to twenty-years, he was in not one, not two, but three legendary punk bands: Rocket from the Crypt, Drive Like Jehu and Hot Snakes (not to mention Pitchfork and the Sultans!).
The amazing guitar solo shreds found in abundance on all three of those bands' albums are a direct result of Reis, the mighty swami. He sings (using his now-famous scratchy vibrato) and, of course, destroys on guitar with The Night Marchers. His guitar becomes an extension of his fingers (hey, that could be a new Tim Burton movie), as he plays masterfully almost in spite of himself.
Think of these four dudes as getting down with the dirty punk, but with a little hint of garage and blues. And they're tight!tight!tight! (I'm practicing my trendy punctuation...cool?) The Night Marchers aggressive and relentless during all their wonderful three-point-five minute songs, and if you love any of Reis' other bands, there's no reason you won't love The Night Marchers.
A girl I was with at the show commented that John Reis looked like a movie star, all sweaty and determined in the ninety-five degree heat (ok, let's just say it was one-hundred). I told her, no, John Reis is not a movie star. He's just a rock star.
Opening is one of our favorite new bands, The Muslims. Also of San Diego, The Muslims play really good lo-fi punk that's seeped in history. It's sort of sloppy, and probably fueled by booze, and if you shut your eyes you just might think you're listening to the Voidoids. They've certainly got the swagger. Listening to The Muslims you sort of think, "Hey, even I could do that." But hey, you didn't do that. They did. And that's punk rock.
BUY TICKETS TO SEE NIGHT MARCHERS AT SCHUBAS!
The Night Marchers and Muslims play Schubas, on Sunday, May 4th.
As mentioned approximately three lines ago (but it seems like forever ago due to the paragraph break), San Diego's The Night Marchers is John Reis' new band. Don't shake your head. You know John Reis! Of course you do! Over the musical course of close to twenty-years, he was in not one, not two, but three legendary punk bands: Rocket from the Crypt, Drive Like Jehu and Hot Snakes (not to mention Pitchfork and the Sultans!).
The amazing guitar solo shreds found in abundance on all three of those bands' albums are a direct result of Reis, the mighty swami. He sings (using his now-famous scratchy vibrato) and, of course, destroys on guitar with The Night Marchers. His guitar becomes an extension of his fingers (hey, that could be a new Tim Burton movie), as he plays masterfully almost in spite of himself.
Think of these four dudes as getting down with the dirty punk, but with a little hint of garage and blues. And they're tight!tight!tight! (I'm practicing my trendy punctuation...cool?) The Night Marchers aggressive and relentless during all their wonderful three-point-five minute songs, and if you love any of Reis' other bands, there's no reason you won't love The Night Marchers.
A girl I was with at the show commented that John Reis looked like a movie star, all sweaty and determined in the ninety-five degree heat (ok, let's just say it was one-hundred). I told her, no, John Reis is not a movie star. He's just a rock star.
Opening is one of our favorite new bands, The Muslims. Also of San Diego, The Muslims play really good lo-fi punk that's seeped in history. It's sort of sloppy, and probably fueled by booze, and if you shut your eyes you just might think you're listening to the Voidoids. They've certainly got the swagger. Listening to The Muslims you sort of think, "Hey, even I could do that." But hey, you didn't do that. They did. And that's punk rock.
The Night Marchers and Muslims play Schubas, on Sunday, May 4th.
