There is no doubt that Rubik is one of our favorite bands and it’s because of videos like the one of them playing “Goji Berries” above that keep them always on our radar. Make sure to pick up your copy of Dada Bandits and cross your fingers for a North American tour this Summer.

Standing toward the back, I watched Paramore-haired teenage girls and their bro-meets-lumberjack-cowboy male counterparts stream into the main hall of the Gramercy Theater in New York City. For a second I had that feeling you get when you visit your old high school. To think that many of the kids in the crowd were born in the same year that I picked up the first Punk-O-Rama, I felt distinctly “cooldadish.”

The first band on the lineup was Title Fight, who I regrettably missed. If you haven’t spent some time listening to “The Last Thing You Forget,” please do. It features gritty vocals over melodic but unrelenting technical hardcore. It internalizes the best of Hot Water Music, Small Brown Bike, and Latterman. For an up-and-coming band, Title Fight is one of the brightest spots in the scene today.

This Time Next Year, on the other hand, was wholly unimpressive. On appearance alone, they came off as the kind of ready-made band you’d see in a teen movie–you know, when the guy goes to find the girl at the punk show or whatever. The music isn’t too far off from this impression. Too clean cut, too predictable, too vacuous. Another Found Glory. “I’m sorry I’m not sorry.” Ucht.

Thankfully, the set was short, and when the lights went down on This Time Next Year, there was a palpable change in mood. The next band up was Strike Anywhere, whose new album, Iron Front, I’ve also reviewed for A&SB. Strike Anywhere is neither clean nor cut, but holy hell they were tight.

The band ripped through eleven songs at lightning speed, pulling from deep in the catalogue they’ve built up since 1999. The songs lost much of their melodic sheen in the live context, but overall, this was for the better. Even “I’m Your Opposite Number,” a bit of a clunker on the album itself, had a fist-to-gut quality that put the crowd in a frenzy. In fact, as the show went on, the songs only got more intense.

The one unfortunate moment came in “Chalkline,” a song about women’s rights–and against, oh I dunno, “corporatized misogyny”–in the vein of songs like Fugazi’s classic “Suggestion.” Before the song, singer Thomas Barnett called for all of his “hardcore sisters to prove that this hardcore thing is not just boys fun.” But when the song burst in, the boys only became more aggressive, and the girls remained on the sidelines. It was a shame, and only further highlighted the line between the scene’s ideals and its reality. The set concluded with Barnett screaming “pledge allegiance to the world,” and with that, Strike Anywhere exited, leaving the crowd in a sweat-drenched and breathless state.

The final band of the night was Four Year Strong, one of the leading acts in pop punk today. They are a perplexing amalgamation of pop punk, melodic hardcore, Vagrant-style emo, and Killswitch metalcore. If you’re the kind of person who likes bands compartmentalized into neat genres, Four Year Strong is not the band for you. But for the crowd at Gramercy that night, Four Year Strong was exactly what they wanted.

Similarly to Strike Anywhere, the live setting took some of the polish off of the vocals, which to my mind, benefits the band. The live setting also put the usually forward-mixed synths back into the maelstrom, which was a big bowl of relief for me, because if there’s one piece of advice I could give to every one of the pop punk and nu-emo bands out there, it’s “fire your synth player.” Not to say the keyboardist here didn’t have a valuable role–some of the best moments of the show came when he stepped from behind his setup and took the role of front man. But in my mind, that guy needs his own hardcore band: they would slay.

The best song, far and away, was the band’s new single, “Wasting Time.” The drums were jet-propulsive, and laid a rock solid foundation for the band to pile on one of the catchiest pieces of rock music I’ve heard in a long, long time. I’m especially thankful that the band eschewed its usually tongue-twisted lyrics for this track, heightening its memorability and ultimate staying power. The melodies are classic, but buttressed by a new and refreshing forcefulness. Without question, this is the best song they’ve ever written, and I’d be surprised if it didn’t explode.

Among all the positive aspects of the show, however, one thing that I found a bit odd was how frequently the band prefaced its choruses and breakdowns with “if you know the words…!” The first time was justified, the second time was curious, but by the 10th or 11th time, it got a bit tired. Further, during “Maniac (R.O.D.),” the call for a circle pit felt out of pace, especially in contrast to the similar call during Strike Anywhere’s more roots-oriented set. But such is the combination of pop and punk.

I could talk about the differences between when I was a kid and now, but I think it’s important to refrain from imposing values from my youth experience on today’s bands and young fans. To some kid in the crowd, it was the best moment of his or her life, and that person is going to go home and check out bands like Lifetime and Gorilla Biscuits and start a band. Even to jaded twenty-somethings like me, that’s still really awesome.

The show was part of the “TRL National Tour.”  The set list was comprised of fan-voted favorites like “Los Angeles” and “Burning House of Love.”  X’s original line-up shredded through hits like “Johnny Hit & Run Pauline,” “Under The Big Black Sun,” “Los Angeles;” hell, pretty much all their classics.  I couldn’t help but feel the exhuberance throughout the near two hour set.  John Doe’s and D.J. Bonebrake’s energy was awe-inspiring.  Billy Zoom, stood to the left of the stage, smiling, nodding and playing perfectly in tune.  Exene even broke her usual seeming disinterest for the situation by occasionally bantering with the crowd.

Just before going into “The Have Nots,” John Doe made a comment about the song being responsible for too many DUIs and how he was happy to play it in New York, since the locals don’t drive.  A fairly innebreated woman then screamed, “We’re New Yorkers!  We don’t fucking drive, we take the train!”  With a mix of disdain and a hint mischief, Exene looks the girl dead in the eye and said, “That’s what he just said.  You people don’t drive.”  She rolled her eyes and X played the song.

This was one of the most high energy show’s I’ve ever been to.  There was a symbiosis between the band and the audience.  The more excited the crowd became, the more enthused  got and vice versa.  The crowd, many of whom were well into their forties or older, were more lively than an audience at a grindcore show.  There was one gentleman in particular who kept on moshing outside the pit.  Despite the best efforts of those on the edge to keep him in, he still found his way into groups of perfectly psyched folks who just wanted to enjoy their beers or waters.  Naturally, his flailing prevented such enjoyment.  I could have sworn John Doe shook his head when the guy knocked my friend’s beer all over the girl to his right.

Other than that minor incident, the show was fantastic, absolutely fantastic.  They’re playing at the World Cafe in Philadelphia on June 4 and making their way west.  I highly recommend checking out one of the remaining shows on the tour (you can peep the show dates here).

Fair thee well,

Ian

So have you gotten a chance to check out Justice? What about getting the time together in your hectic schedule to see them live? Even better… What about being cool enough to be “back stage”? Probably not. Thanks to multi-award winning directors and intimate friends of the band Romain Gavras (“Stress” director) and So-Me (“D.A.N.C.E.”, “DVNO”, Justice will have a live DVD/CD/Documentary hit shelves on December 9th, just in time for you to buy it as a gift for your preferred religious holiday. This documentary covers their 3 week US March tour and shows you every gory detail of life on the road of this Grammy-nominated French duo. Check out the trailer after the jump.

JUSTICE ON MYSPACE

Photo credit: Jason Debiak

Our good friends in E For Explosion have headed out on the road with the likes of The Reign of Kindo, City Lights & a slew of other bands. Check them out if you want to hear a lush mash-up of My Bloody Valentine, The Jealous Sound & early Jimmy Eat World. Tour dates are posted after the jump and visit their MySpace for even more tracks.

E For Explosion – Sunday

07.13.08 – Columbus, OH – Bernie’s Distillery
07.14.08 – Pittsburgh, PA – Garfield Artworks
07.15.08 – Shamokin, PA – Tuesday Tunes – w/ Scenes & Sirens, Racing Kites
07.17.08 – Olean, NY – Cojones Cantina – FREE SHOW
07.18.08 – Buffalo, NY – Xtreme Wheels
07.19.08 – Trenton, NJ – Hamilton Lanes – w/ The Reign of Kindo
07.20.08 – Cambridge, MA – The Middle East – w/ The Reign of Kindo
07.21.08 – Hamden, CT – The Space – w/ The Pink Spiders, The Reign of Kindo
07.24.08 – Syracuse, NY – Castle Rockmoore
07.25.08 – Mountain Lakes, NJ – The Underground
07.26.08 – Harrison, NJ – Post 282 – w/ The Reign of Kindo
07.27.08 – Philadelphia, PA – The M Room – w/ The Reign of Kindo
07.29.08 – Blacksburg, VA – The Lantern – w/ Scenes & Sirens, Stereo Skyline
07.31.08 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade
08.02.08 – Gainesville, FL – 1982 Bar
08.06.08 – Raleigh, NC – The Brewery
08.08.08 – St. Louis, MO – The Fubar
08.09.08 – Cleveland, OH – Agora Theater
08.12.08 – Evansville, IN – The Internet Cafe
08.17.08 – West Chester, PA – Union Ramp
08.23.08 – Toledo, OH – Headliners
08.24.08 – Fort Wayne, IN – Miss Q’s Live Music Complex
08.27.08 – Southgate, MI – Modern Exchange
08.30.08 – Columbus, OH – The Basement

My Bloody Valentine have added a small handful of comeback gigs! I might have been wearing over-sized baseball t-shirts the last time they played a show.

06-20 London, England – The Roundhouse
06-21 London, England – The Roundhouse
06-22 London, England – The Roundhouse
06-28 Manchester, England – Apollo
06-29 Manchester, England – Apollo
07-02 Glasgow, Scotland – Barrowland
07-03 Glasgow, Scotland – Barrowland

Add some US dates on there and I’ll burn my baseball Ts, buy a plane ticket and finally feel cool.

Let’s just say I adore this band. Kiss Kiss took a few months off to let Josh’s throat recover from some sort problem (probably from s’ing ds!! get it?? asdlkjfhhlsjkdaf).

It’s good to see them back on the road. Just check them out:

11.10.07 – Warwick, NY @ Tuscan Cafe
11.23.07 – Nyack, NY @ The Backdoor / Nyack Center
11.24.07 – Poughkeepsie, NY @ The Polish Club
11.29.07 – New York, NY @ Fontana’s
11.30.07 – Purchase, NY @ Manhattanville College
12.01.07 – Purchase, NY @ Purchase College Student Center
12.07.07 – New Haven, CT @ The People’s Center
12.15.07 – Red Bank, NJ @ Internet Cafe