Murder City Devils Play 'Sco

Seattle Group to Play With Bluetip, At the Drive In

Punk Rah: At the Drive In join the Murder City Devils and Bluetip Wednesday at the 'Sco. (photo courtesy Subpop Records)

Punk is dead. Long live punk. The Murder City Devils are coming to town, hallelujah and praise be. Be at the 'Sco Wednesday, Nov. 1 and be born again.

For those who haven't heard the Devils before, I should qualify the preceding statement. The Devils don't sound just like whatever your particular city's punk bands sound like - in truth, they'd probably rather not be called punk, and certainly not mohawk/patch-sew punk. They're somewhere along the lineage of the Doors, the Misfits and something else, but not really. Their music has a real energy to it, like punk used to and unlike whatever insipid crap passes for rock these days (being loud doesn't equal energy). Nor is the Seattle-based group from the early-90s Seattle school of rock - they're something different and altogether more frightening and exciting.

The guitars are often melodic but can range to grinding; the drums crash but sometimes pound; and the vocals are just, well, unique. Neither wail, moan or scream quite gets at the essence of Spencer Moody's vocals, though "damn creepy" generally gets at the lyrics themselves pretty well. And speaking of creepy, there's that organ. Employed with great effect to a rage-filled and distinctly thrashier general feeling on the Devils' latest album In Name and Blood, that organ is one of the scarier things in rock in a long time. At least as scary as Shane McGowan's teeth, though it's a close one.

The aforementioned In Name and Blood is the Devils' third full-length album, following up 1998's Empty Bottles Broken Hearts and 1997's eponymous debut. The current album has taken the Devils away from whatever corrupted vestiges of garage rock and into a full-scale aural assault on common decency and your eardrums. The album is one big homage to unacceptable behavior, from "Somebody Else's Baby" to "Rum to Whiskey" to "Idle Hands." It's an album that proves it's good to be bad - and then smashes a beer bottle on your head.

Joining the Devils will be At the Drive In and Bluetip, two bands that have gone through similar histories but are possessed of distinct sounds. All got together in the mid-90s, have now released several full-length albums, and are on good labels after paying their dues with endless touring and 7-inchers.

At the Drive In hail from El Paso, Texas, and have been touring with the Devils for a few months plugging their latest album, Relationship of Command, the group's debut on Grand Royal records. Like the Devils, their sound is not easily classified. It is more easily described-hard, straightforward, ass kicking. They've been called emo, though I would give them more credit than that. Think Bad Religion meets the early Offspring, and you're in the right ballpark. Good music. Mmm. Listen. Good.

Also playing Wednesday are DC's latest punk offering, Bluetip. Like many of their Dischord comrades before them, Bluetip play good solid punk striped with bright guitars and pensive vocals. And like At the Drive In, maybe you might call it a little emo, but I still like it, and I won't tell if you won't.

Bluetip have been touring with the Devils and ATDI on and off for the current tour, hyping their new album, Polymer, also their third full-length LP. Like the Devils' and ATDI's latest offerings, Polymer may be Bluetip's strongest album yet.

Basically, you have a choice next Wednesday. You could be lame and say that you have work, whine whine whine - bullshit. That's not even an option, come to think of it. This is your only option: to be at the 'Sco at 9:30 p.m. for what will most likely be the best show at Oberlin this year, and maybe in your college career. Trust me, I'll be damned disappointed if you're not there, and I know where you live.