New York punks The Casualties have stomped through Cleveland several times already—most recently with GWAR at House of Blues and English Dogs at Peabodys.
This time out, the combat boot quartet is scheduled to rock Now That’s Class (11213 Detroit Ave. Cleveland, Ohio 44102) on Saturday, March 16, 2013 with In Defence and Rapid Reason. They’ll be touring to support their latest album, Resistance, available now on Season of Mist. It’s the first stop on The Casualties itinerary for Spring 2013, so you can expect the band to be wound tightly and ready to go.
The Big Apple bashers formed in 1990 to preserve the hardcore punk of the early 80’s, which had ebbed in the wake of hair metal and grunge. The original lineup fluctuated during the band’s nascent years, but by the time The Casualties issued their first disc, For the Punx, a firm foursome emerged.
Spike-haired Jorge Herrera still rocks the microphone. His mohawked and heavily-inked compadres include Jake Kolatis (guitar), Rick Lopez (bass), and Marc “Meggers” Eggers (drums).
Resistance picks up exactly where 2009’s We Are All We Have left off. Which is to say, it’s another platter of well-polished, fist-in-the-air, antiestablishment anthems powered by Jake’s serrated guitar chords, Lopez’s warbling low end, and Meggers’ frantic thunderstorm of percussion. The band reaffirms its position against all things institutionalized, regulated, or otherwise mandated, pledging to always rise up again when knocked down on “My Life, My Blood, Always Forward.” Sing-along ready refrains like “Resistance” and “Morality Police” are sure to elevate blood pressures and blow out a few lungs in Lakewood next week.
Elsewhere, Herrera and company resume their ongoing musicological scrutiny of life at street level, submitting their observe-and-report manifestos on “Brick Wall Justice,” “Constant Struggle,” “Modern Day Slaves,” “South East Asian Rebels,” and “Warriors on the Road.” Adhering to their modus operandi, The Casualties constrain running times to well under three minutes per track, preferring to get in, mix things up, and get out while they can. Only “Corazones Intoxicados” breaks three minutes, clocking in at 4:56—and epic by Herrera’s standards. Bonus track “Souls of Fire” brings the total running time of Resistance to a solid, satisfying 36:00.
Listen to an album preview here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67kRuJoA07I&feature=player_embedded
Wear old clothes at this show, kids. The pit will be gyrating and bodies will be flying when The Casualties hit the stage. Intrepid moshers might even get a chance to sing a few verses with Jorge. Not a bad way to spend St. Patrick’s Day Eve on the North Coast.
The Casualties with In Defence, Rapid Reason, Race Riot at Now That’s Class, Saturday, March 16, 2013. Tickets are $12.00 advance or $14.00 day of show. Doors open at 7pm, the show starts at 8pm.
www.nowthatsclass.net
www.thecasualtiesarmy.com
www.facebook.com/TheCasualties
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