First Listenings: SoulJahz, Springsteen

By Tim Davison
A&E Editor

Clearly, the end of the world is nigh. We now have a Christian hip-hop group out there. As if the sugary-sweet mainstream sludge regularly churned out by Warner Brothers Records wasn’t insulting enough. Now the media giant is passing off the massively over-produced gospel jams of SoulJahz as some kind of serious hip-hop.
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Walking past 123 Pleasant St. Tuesday night, one could not help but notice the abundance of spiked blue hair and tattoos adorning those in attendance for the show. Morgantown’s punk scene wants us to know that its music is still going strong and is part of a younger, stronger and more dedicated generation than ever before.
Despite the dog collars and pleather pants, the atmosphere was rather friendly and fun. Five bands came together to create a long evening of loud punk rock.
Local band Law Biting Citizens was the first to perform. Comprised of Jeff Goodwin (guitar/backing vocals), Jason Gillespie (guitar), Jeremiah Munsey (vocals), Jordan Munsey (drums) and Chris Marinelli (bass), the band came through the hype to give real, honest rock.
Next up was Small Brown Bike (whose name comes from a middle school Barbie bike that they painted brown). Their music inspired much good-natured moshing and screams of “hell, yeah” as the night wore on.
One fan explained his impressions of the band.
“Small Brown Bike was pretty much what emo is supposed to be: somewhere between what really comes out of the band before it’s processed, prettied up and shrink-wrapped for the mass of 16-year-old suburban girls who don’t know what the hell they’re listening to anyway.”
As far as his views of the audience, he says that “they know that punk is not about drugs, tattoos and rebelling. It’s about standing up for what you believe in and not rolling over and letting something happen because it’s the popular thing to do, or agreeing with someone because they’re older or smarter. It’s about caring enough about something to say what you think, and to put a hell of a lot of energy behind it.”
Glasseater took hold of the show at 8 p.m. for a solid half hour. With amazing vocals and strong cymbal work complementing a driving bass line, their high-energy show enlivened the crowd. Lightly distorted guitars gave way to darker vocal lines and ever-increasing power for the last of their songs.
Metal-emo band From Autumn to Ashes, with a sound similar to the Bosstones, Millincollin and NOFX, rocked in never-ending style, proving that punk rock is not dead, but has respawned as a new generation.
One student tells of his experiences at the show. 
“I saw Glasseater and From Autumn to Ashes. Glasseater was a perfect blend of emo and hard-core. They had a bit of equipment problems at the beginning, which kind of broke the flow of the show,” he said. “But that was not their fault. I thought the vocalist had a nice mix of screaming and yelling and actual singing.” He went on to explain that From Autumn to Ashes was “wicked good” and “intense the whole show. Also,” he added, “it was awesome to see a drummer who can sing.  That’s amazing.”
Last to take the stage were the Suicide Machines. With album sales exceeding 225,000, they are a well-known entity in the punk scene. Their sound embraces loud riffs intertwined with relaxed ska grooves. Playing favorites like “Punk Out,” the Suicide Machines got the crowd clapping in time.
Toward the end of the set, the songs became short, punctuated by fast drumming. “Break the Glass” included a guitar solo that sounded as if it was inspired by Alex Lifeson (Rush), and chants of “one more song!” brought on “Vans Song” to close out the show.

Erin Mountain can be reached at:
Erin.Mountain@mail.wvu.edu.