On August 17th, New Yorkers mourned the loss of St. Vitus, one of the most iconic punk venues in the city. Located in Greenpoint, the intimate 200-cap venue was home to legendary shows such as Bayside, Dillinger Escape Plan, Descendants, and even a secret Megadeth set, as well as countless small scale tours that rolled through the area. I was lucky enough to attend a total of two shows at the 200-cap bar. The first was Teenage Wrist on their first ever headlining tour in support of their album Earth is a Black Hole, where I glimpsed the type of magic that could happen in these walls even if it fell short amidst the indie and shoegaze lineup. The second show better suited the ethos of the venue, with the lineup consisting of the one two punch of Better Lovers and Foreign Hands.
It was a relatively short show where the band played their entire discography of 4 songs along with three (at the time) unreleased songs and a cover of “Rusty Cage” by Soundgarden. The entire spectacle lasted about a half hour, but between the nonstop action of the crowd combined with the intimate nature of the show, it was one of the most action-packed 30 minutes of the whole month, culminating in a pile-on during their final song, “30 Under 13.” As the crowd began to disperse, Greg Puciato sang a nice rendition of “Easy Rider” before disappearing into the crowd.
The headlining supergroup has been active for about a year and a half at this point, and their reputation certainly precedes them. The group consists of Greg Puciato of Dillinger Escape Plan fame joining Jordan Buckley, Steve Micchichi, and Goose from the ashes of legendary punk outfit Every Time I Die, with the mastermind Will Putney rounding out guitars- as if the other four members weren’t enough of an indication of the chaotic music you were about to hear. From day one, anyone who was paying attention knew this band was going to be something special. Now we're rounding out the second year of this band’s life, and Better Lovers have recently dropped their debut record Highly Irresponsible, a ten-track riff-fest that brings some of the best qualities of each member's respective original band. Naturally, when a band releases an album with this much hype and a lot of fans craving to experience it a live setting, they will embark on a headliner, which is how I once again ended up in Greenpoint to see Better Lovers- except this time, their venue wasWarsaw, which is approximately five times larger than Vitus. After a night with the 2024 version of Better Lovers, I am delighted to report their live performance is just as crazy and maybe even more chaotic than I remembered, thanks to an upgraded stage production and a new legion of fans ready to get (wait for it) HIGHLY IRRESPONSIBLE for an hour.
The lights went dark at 9:25 PM, and in an almost baton pass-like moment, the PA system began to play a segment of “Easy Rider” before rapidly transitioning into multiple segments of miscellaneous hits from the 60s to the 80s, with timeless classics such as “All You Need Is Love” and “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” interspersed throughout the mix. However, after about three minutes, the supergroup took the stage, complete with Greg Puciato walking out with a mask recalling the God Made Me An Animal artwork before bursting into the slow burning album and set opener, “Lie Between The Lines.”
From that moment on, the band proceeded to play nearly their entire discography. With such a powerhouse of a metal outfit on stage, it can be almost impossible to catch every individual moment from the band members. Will Putney and Steve Micchichi utilized their long hair to their advantage, their insane headbanging matching that of fans on the barricade, with Putney in particular bringing a sort of nonchalant cool factor to his performance. His confidence and reputation in the world of metal speaks for itself, but instead of using them as a crutch, Putney doubles down and executes his work with a stone cold focus. On the drum front, Goose brought a new level of ferocity akin to that of the heavier moments of his previous band. He got a song written for him in New York, with Puciato chanting Goose’s name before singing, “His name is Goose and he plays the fucking drums.”
Speaking of Puciato, while his body demonstrated a more reserved nature for most of his performance, his vocals were just as visceral as ever before. However, that doesn’t mean he was always standing still and keeping to himself. He frequently took leaps off the stage and engaged headfirst with the crowd like it was 2005 all over again. There’s also his non-introductory manner of talking to the audience, acting less like it was the audience’s first exposure to Better Lovers and more like he was emceeing a comedy special. However, with regards to giving it their all, Jordan Buckley took the crown with his authentic stage presence and infectious energy. Between picking up a camera from a photographer in the photo pit and waving it to the audience, jumping and spitting his water right as “13 Under 30” kicked in, and donning a frog mask before throwing it into the crowd, Jordan was clearly having just as much fun being in the room as everyone else.
Highly Irresponsible is out now on Sharptone Records. If you haven’t had the chance to get pummeled by this masterclass of punk, you can stream it today on Spotify and Apple Music.
BETTER LOVERS
Taking on the task of getting the crowd ready to go for Better Lovers was another St. Vitus veteran: grindcore band Full of Hell, touring in support of their latest record, Coagulated Bliss. Every sound emanating from an amplifier during each minute to ninety second song was so heavy that they felt like messages from Satan himself telling God how overrated he was. Vocalist Dylan Walker embodied the pain of his lyrics as he paraded over the stage, with his short yet powerful frantic movements making it nearly impossible to pin him down for even a millisecond, except for when he let out a massive sustained scream or broke into stage banter about how the next song was about “millions of babies being born with microplastics.” However, on an instrumental level, drummer Dave Bland leveled up his game with a drum solo that shook the heavens.
With a combined total of 12 songs, four samples and a drum solo, Full of Hell’s short and to the point songs clocked in at just over 25 minutes. However, in what might have been the scariest moment of the entire set, right after the band hung up their instruments, a slowed down, demonic version of AJ and Big Justice’s smash hit “We Bring The Boom” began to echo throughout the venue. [One has to wonder whether it’s a commentary on American consumerism and our overreliance on CostCo, or if it’s another Full of Hell troll they do ever so well.] You can check out Coagulated Bliss on Spotify or Apple Music if you are eager to add some grindcore excellence to your album of the year list.
FULL OF HELL
Second on the lineup was the ferocious noise hardcore outfit SPY. I caught their set back in 2022 at the Brooklyn Monarch and was struck at how their noise punk-inspired sound overwhelmed to the point where they could blow out the speakers at any second. This sense of (admittedly exciting) anxiety carried over when the Bay Area hardcore group took the stage with vocalist Peter Pawlak screaming blistering, indecipherable lyrics. On the Highly Irresponsible tour, bassist Thomas Sherry was the star of the show, jumping around and relentlessly striking poses fit for rockstars in arenas. However, on a sonic level, there was a moment where the bass was intentionally fuzzed out so that every time Sherry hit a string, it sounded like the most intimidating TV static you’ve ever heard. It goes to show how you can push the instrumental aspects of punk music without sacrificing the brutality the genre already provides.
The band mainly stuck to songs from their 13-minute long debut record Satisfaction, with tracks from their EP Habitual Defender sprinkled in, as well as some newer tracks like “On The Brink,” which you can stream on Spotify or Apple Music. I highly recommend keeping an eye on these guys considering how far they’ve come in such a short time. There’s merit to it.
SPY
Kicking off the night was Cloakroom, a band with (you guessed it) another unintelligible vocalist. However, unlike the fury of the rest of the lineup, there was a beauty in the distortion of frontman Doyle Martin as he underscored the shoegaze-centric nature of the instrumentation. The Indiana-based rock band made great use of Warsaw’s back screen with an ever moving visual of a beautiful sky, accompanied by the type of transcendent music that makes you feel like you’re floating. Their set came with very little banter as the music spoke for itself, with the exception of the first moments of “Lost Meaning,” when Martin explained how it’s a song about how society wants to die. As a shoegaze fan myself, the entire sonic orchestration felt like a fantastic display of how to incorporate these heavier genres into a heavier bill, as the band brought out very blissful moments with their instrumentation, coupled with despondent undertones, leaving me a new fan.
In a way, Cloakroom offered a moment of calm before the storm, but it wasn’t without the energy that keeps you coming back to the concerts. From every tap of the pedalboard to the banging of bassist Bobby Markos’ head, you can tell that Cloakroom was feeling the music just as much as the listeners, and it was a transfixing sight to behold. Cloakroom recently released their latest single in over two and a half years titled “Unbelonging” on Closed Casket Activities, which you can stream on Spotify and Apple Music.
CLOAKROOM
It’s truly impossible to explain the energy of a Better Lovers show in adequate detail. Obviously, I tried my best here, but like so many other shows in the punk and hardcore scenes, you have to show up to a show in order to truly experience it. There’s still a fair amount of time to catch a Better Lovers show if you are in the Midwest or on the West Coast. If not, I wouldn’t worry too much. Greg Puciato himself said that he “can’t wait until they have two albums.” And if you happen to be a New Yorker who couldn’t make it to the show, the legend also said “New York, we will keep coming back again and again and again. Thank you” before heading offstage, so it’s not a matter of if there’s a next time, but WHEN.
BETTER LOVERS SETLIST
Lie Between The Lines
Sacrificial Participant
Your Misplaced Self
Become So Small
Superman Died Paralyzed
A White Horse Covered in Blood
Drowning in a Burning World
The Flowering (followed by new Better Lovers track “His Name is Goose”)
Two Alive Amongst the Dead
Future Myopia
At All Times
God Made Me An Animal
Love As An Act of Rebellion
30 Under 13
FULL OF HELL SETLIST
Deluminate
Asphixiant Blessing
Doors to Mental Agony
Transmuting Chemical Burns
Crawling Back to God
Amber Mote
Schizoid Rupture
Bone Coral and Brine (w/ Drum Solo)
Gelding of Men
Reeking Tunnels
Coagulated Bliss
Guided Blight
SPY SETLIST
Running Outta Time
Koneic
Carceral Attitude
On The Brink
Mob
Do What I Can
Exceptional American
Bootlicker
Surveilled
Drew Song (New Song On Setlist)
Violent Majority
Big Man
Afraid of Everything
CLOAKROOM SETLIST
The Pilot
Story of the Egg
Lost Meaning
Light Up
Dissembler