FEBRUARY 21, 2008: THE PUKERS @ THE SMELL

I went into the Smell dripping from the evening rain. I had watched a couple of bands beforehand who I normally would not listen to while driving in my car, but still, I enjoyed their sets. Here, I had The Pukers at hand. Fuck, the name says it all.

I'm usually open to the avant-guard thrash performance deal, though up front I will let you know, it does not appeal to me very much. Yet, I can appreciate a good performance; I've seen shows by Aids Will Kill and Ima Gymnast (otherwise known as Ima Fucking Gymnast at the time that I saw them) and I understood what was disguised in chaos during the sets. But I couldn't extract the same meaning from The Pukers set.

Dadist attempts, if even on a subconscious level, will fail if the novelty of the stunt has faded. There's nothing to see when the singer is flailing up and down to the ground yelling like the demon in the "Come to Daddy" video by Apex Twin. In this case nothing The Pukers did was really all that interesting either performance-wise or musically. During the entirety of the set, I thought: Ok, drummer's kit sounds like crap with the worn heads and cracked cymbals, the paint is peeling by the foot on the bass drum, the singer is screaming while childishly fucking around with pedals on the ground, you guys are defying the musical status quo, the band name is indicative of the sound, you're DIY...I get it! It's been done! Though, the band itself doesn't get it.

They carried themselves with a certain aloofness in regards to the rest of the room during the set, which then became contagious among those watching. I really didn't care about their show; I didn't get up from the couch to take a photo until their first announcement that the set would end with the following song. Most of the people had left after their first one.

Sure there was a play on dynamics and improvisation with this thrash band, however, they did a piss poor job at it. One of the beauties of improvisation is a certain relationship between the parts, but neither of them seemed to play off the other. I could have easily yelled and screamed while another band was setting up in the main room and I would have gotten the exact same reaction. I know, it's sort of a fallacy to make this sort of argument: but I really don't give a shit.

I'm not sure exactly what the point of the performance was: to be ironic? to shock? Because they failed at both. Irony is passe and shock is a gem that only comes by every 20 years. Maybe they would be more adept with something along the lines of Merda d'artista?




Consensus: No point in staying if they go on while you're at a show. It's a good time for a cigarette.