{"id":3717,"date":"2023-01-23T14:28:47","date_gmt":"2023-01-23T18:28:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.degeneratepress.com\/wordpress\/?p=3717"},"modified":"2023-01-23T14:28:47","modified_gmt":"2023-01-23T18:28:47","slug":"bad-spell-country-westerns-the-schizophonics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.degeneratepress.com\/wordpress\/?p=3717","title":{"rendered":"Bad Spell, Country Westerns, The Schizophonics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even pre-plague, I wasn&#8217;t seeing as much live music as in ye olden days, and social media has me less inclined to write about it. But Saturday I saw a show I wanted to remember come future days, and rather than let some corporation own and manage that content I figured I better post it on my own damn site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bad Spell features a trio of local gents who have more than a few bands between them. Brian&#8217;s pleasantly scratchy vocals lead the way most of the time. Shane plays a baritone guitar in place of bass, bringing a more nimble sound in place of thump, and Pietro thrashes the drums energetically, combining to produce a garage rock sound a bit less retro than the Forty Fives, yet still familiar. <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.degeneratepress.com\/vault\/2023\/schizophonics\/bad-spell.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.degeneratepress.com\/vault\/2023\/schizophonics\/bad-spell2.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Eons ago, I fell in love with a band from Brooklyn called The Weight (not to be confused with The Weight Band, or The Band&#8217;s tune <em>The Weight<\/em>.) I&#8217;d heard one or more of that act were in Country Westerns and had moved down to Nashville, so I have been looking forward to catching them live. I was not disappointed.  <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.degeneratepress.com\/vault\/2023\/schizophonics\/country-westerns.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s a bit Americana sounding, with a 12-string up front adding some Byrds jangle. Joseph Plunket&#8217;s vocals are scratchy and appropriately emotive for the heartfelt lyrics. The first time I caught The Weight I broke out in tears, &#8220;It&#8217;s like getting to see DBT in the early days again!&#8221; Country Westerns are a bit more weathered, perhaps a bit more sedate, but it has a very similar melancholy about it. <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.degeneratepress.com\/vault\/2023\/schizophonics\/country-westerns2.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.degeneratepress.com\/vault\/2023\/schizophonics\/country-westerns3.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Country Westerns probably should&#8217;ve started the night off, then let Bad Spell build the energy up, then have The Schizophonics burn the mother down with their garage rock inferno.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.degeneratepress.com\/vault\/2023\/schizophonics\/schizophonics.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My brother had been badgering me for years to catch The Schizophonics. They do some raucous 60s style garage rock with simple, punchy chords and sing-along vocals all with more energy than any other act I&#8217;ve seen. But it&#8217;s the on-stage histrionics that make the live show a <em>show<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The stage was cleared so that the singer\/guitarist could run, leap, and\/or roll from end to end, drop a few splits, bounce off the wall and spring back to the mic without losing a note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.degeneratepress.com\/vault\/2023\/schizophonics\/schizophonics2.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.degeneratepress.com\/vault\/2023\/schizophonics\/schizophonics3.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.degeneratepress.com\/vault\/2023\/schizophonics\/schizophonics4.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.degeneratepress.com\/vault\/2023\/schizophonics\/schizophonics5.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I wasn&#8217;t sure the band would hold up on a studio recording but was pleasantly surprised by <em>Hoof It<\/em>, the record I picked up at the show. If you&#8217;re a fan of acts like The Woggles, The Hate Bombs, The Forty Fives, or, to go back to the origins, The Sonics, you&#8217;re gonna love The Schizophonics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Even pre-plague, I wasn&#8217;t seeing as much live music as in ye olden days, and social media has me less inclined to write about it. But Saturday I saw a show I wanted to remember come future days, and rather than let some corporation own and manage that content I figured I better post it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.degeneratepress.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.degeneratepress.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.degeneratepress.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.degeneratepress.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.degeneratepress.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3717"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.degeneratepress.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3720,"href":"https:\/\/www.degeneratepress.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3717\/revisions\/3720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.degeneratepress.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.degeneratepress.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.degeneratepress.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}