To be honest, I was a little surprised that I liked Easy Action as much as I did: if I was gonna look at it objectively, their music was a little too traditionally "punk" for my tastes, with much of the stage presence copped straight from the Ramones circa '76; from splay-legged, Dee Dee-aping bassist Tony Romeo to guitarist Harold Richardson's trick of playing directly into his amp a la Johnny. As for Brannon himself, he "sang" with the kind of throat-rending, spleen-distending howl from hell that can either raise the hairs on the back of your neck (see: Black Francis in "Tame") or raise your eyes to the heavens in exasperation (see: most modern metal), all depending on the savviness of the particular screamer.
But the thing that won me over - and it didn't take long - was the simple fact that these guys bled, breathed, sweated and shat rock and roll attitude, in a way that most "punk" bands from 1977 all the way to 2006 just couldn't match. They rocked fast and they rocked hard, all the while exhibiting some of the best punk rock faces I've ever seen: Richardson's exaggerated biker scowl was aided by an impressive Fu Manchu mustache, while Romeo opted for a slack-jawed, cock-eyed wince, like Danny Kaye in a biopic of Sid Vicious, and best of them all was Brannon himself, who stared the audience down like a punch-drunk prizefighter rearing to throw his best right hook. Near the end of the set, Romeo tripped over drummer Matt Becker's ride cymbal, sprawling his gangly frame over the drum kit. Both guys kept playing. It was at that moment when I became an Easy Action fan.
A similar conversion of faith wasn't necessary for me to enjoy the next act, the Dirtbombs - I've been a fan of those guys (and, since the 2003 addition of Ko Shih on fuzz, girl) since the very first time I heard their cover of Sly Stone's "Underdog." But after the rush of discovering a "new" band - not to mention the fact that I've already seen the Dirtbombs more times than I'd care to reveal - I was a little slow to be won over by their performance, which began as a fairly routine rendition of the songs they've been playing since Dangerous Magical Noise three years ago. They opened with "Start the Party," followed by "Get It While You Can"; they played the usual staples from Dangerous Magical and Ultraglide in Black, with a smattering of live-favorite B-sides for spice. It was a good enough show (when have the Dirtbombs played a show that wasn't at least good?), but for some reason, for me at least, it just didn't have that spark.
Article comments
1 - Jasper Borgman
I was at that show. Excellent and Accurate review..