End of an era: The Limbos leave a lasting legacy

Cam Bonelli/WP
The Limbos perform at the Porn Hall in 2015.

Jack Hammett
The world of Mississippi punk is a glowing fragment of the scene at large, but it doesn’t necessarily reflect that scene’s impersonal nature. Touring bands leave impressions. Every punk here is family. So when a local band buys the farm, the impact rolls over the entire community.

Exit Mississippi hardcore punk thunk The Limbos, which singer Tyler Ricketts and drummer Nathaniel Hill said is influenced by Japanese groups like Kuro and Coma. The band brought with them an aggressive sociopolitical approach to songwriting that kept everyone grooving at shows.

Such merit didn’t go unrecognized, as the group saw wide attention from DIY zines and online outlets—a testament to the band’s relevance even after their decision to split, which came when Hill decided to move to Kansas City roughly a year after the group’s formation.

Ricketts said the band’s original vision was to play punk music, do punk stuff with people they love and show what Mississippi punk was all about.

“Nathaniel had some music and lyrics that he made a while back and wanted to play them,” he said. “He gathered around some Mississippi punks that were not currently in punk bands and brought us together to play it live.”

The band’s absence, however, hasn’t kept people from talking, the most notable instance being a recent write up in DIY outlet MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL.

“I was actually really surprised when people were into our music,” Hill said. “Whenever the other members and friends would tell me anything people mentioned about us online or in a zine, it blew my mind every time. It’s still crazy to me that some people honestly really liked our band when all I ever wanted to do was play a few shows and make cassettes.”

Which was exactly what the gang did, to a personable and memorable effect. According to Hill, the members were “about as chill as a band [could] possibly be with each other.”

Cam Bonelli/WP
The Limbos cutting loose at the Porn Hall. 

“It was a short-lived bunch of fun, which is exactly what I wanted it to be,” Hill said. “We acted like assholes to each other, which is what I’m pretty sure what you’re supposed to do when you’re in a band. . . . Everyone worked super hard to make shit happen. . . . They all put forth the effort to get us on shows, organize tours and get our names outside of Mississippi. I hope it was as chill for them at some point as it was for me for the entire duration of the band.”

Ricketts said The Limbos played the majority of their shows in Hattiesburg and Jackson but spent time playing all across the southern states.

“When we went on our weekend tour, we played in Tallahassee, Birmingham and New Orleans,” he said. “One weekend we traveled out to Denton, Texas to play a show at this park. . . . It was punk music happening in the middle of a soccer field, if you can picture that. Almost all of our shows, though, have been house shows, besides a few of them being at venues.”

As mentioned, bands in small communities like the one in Mississippi tend to make the biggest impacts. Ricketts said he hopes bands such as The Limbos can inspire new artistic projects in smaller scenes.

“Mississippi has a small punk scene compared to many other places,” he said. “Starting any sort of DIY-induced motion makes a huge difference in our scene—for example, a band, zine, art project, photography—the list goes on and on. I hope at any of the shows we played, someone saw us and was inspired to pick up an instrument, start singing, start a band or at least have an idea for a band they would like to start.”

Ricketts said that before Hill moves on to Kansas City, group may release “one or two more things.” Whether physically or not at all, it seems The Limbos will stick around for some time.

Freedia deems Mississippi a 'right-to-twerk' state

Cam Bonelli / Jack Hammett

Staff  Reporters / Awesome Kids

Freedia grooving at the Showroom set on March 25.
Photo: Cam Bonelli

Drinking patrons darted in and out of The Dollar BOX Showroom on Friday, March 25, cutting streaks through the artificial fog that spouted from the stage. A projected sign reading “MISSISSIPPI IS A RIGHT TO TWERK STATE” bathed the crowd in blue and red. When the opening DJ’s set came to a close, the air grew tense. A procession of dancers stalked onto the stage with confidence.

Then came Big Freedia, sporting a black robe that seemed to wave off the pressurized atmosphere as it fell away at the start of the first number.

Two weeks before Big Freedia’s initially scheduled February performance, The Dollar BOX Showroom owner Ben Shemper received a phone call

from Mississippi’s Alcohol Beverage Control board. The ABC said Big Freedia’s performance would be too sexually inappropriate to go on, according to The Times-Picayune.

Freedia marching out from backstage.
Photo: Cam Bonelli

“So [the ABC] expressed if there was gyrating at the show, it could be shut down,” said Big Freedia’s co-manager Reid Martin. “What we wound up doing is going up the ladder, if you will, and asked to speak with the ABC’s legal team and enforcement team. This is free speech. The way we read the law was that we were not in violation of anything.”

The ABC law prohibits “activities that include live entertainment or conduct which is lewd, immoral or offensive to public decency, including any live act or performance which appeals primarily to sexually oriented.” The law bans mud wrestling, bikini contests, beastiality, masturbatory activity and strippers– none of which Big Freedia and her dancers qualify as, according to Reid.

Reid said Big Freedia’s attorney spoke on the phone with the ABC’s chief of enforcement and deemed that twerking could not constitute lewd behavior.

“I guess they had seen some things on YouTube that would be deemed a violation,” Reid said. “We wouldn’t violate [the regulations]. We’ve played in Mississippi so many times. Our last show before this was the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum. I’d like to chalk it up to misunderstanding.”

Reid said eventually the ABC and Big Freedia’s team came to an accord, and the show was rescheduled.

And Big Freedia returned with a vengeance.

“We had to stand up for ourselves,” Reid said. “I was shocked and in disbelief. When I heard it, I really didn’t think it was true. In my career in managing artists, it’s certainly the strangest thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Reid said Big Freedia made a statement by coming back to Hattiesburg to perform.

“It is expression, it is speech and it is an art form,” Reid said. “There’s no question about it. What those dancers do is incredible. It was definitely a statement.”

Big Freedia’s statement in coming back to perform resonated with the Showroom crowd.

Amanda Kleinhans, a senior sculpture major at USM, said Freedia “brought it” like she always does.

“Closing out senior year, who else would you want to see other than Big Freedia,” Kleinhans said. “My professor told me about the show being cancelled. I think the whole lewd acts thing is ridiculous in such a progressive time. I think it’s partly censorship and, obviously as an artist, I don’t believe in censorship.”

Freedia and her dancers known as The Divas.
Photo: Cam Bonelli

Donald Thibodeaux, a dancer who tours and performs with Big Freedia, said he was glad the show was rescheduled because the performance was worth the time and energy.

“The crowd loved us,” Thibodeaux said. “We left our hearts and our sweat on the stage. We grind every day. It’s our craft. Everybody has an art. Everybody perfects an art.”

Thibodeaux said from day one he felt Freedia’s hospitality. His experiences with the Big Freedia team have been very positive.

“At the end of the day, she’s still a person,” Thibodeaux said. “I treat her like she’s my mother.”

The music TV channel Fuse appeared at the show and helped Freedia film footage for an upcoming music video and her reality show.

Following her performance, Freedia hurriedly left to attend a New Orleans birthday bash. When asked for comment, she politely declined.

Now, with no opposition from regulation officers, Mississippi is now a “right-to-twerk” state.

This article also appeared in The Student Printz.

Dérive returns to Hattiesburg, strikes back

Jack Hammett, Staff Reporter

Greg Nahabedian during the Spice World Set
Derek Ellis / Courtesy Photo

On March 15, Dérive of Northampton, Massachusetts dropped in on Spice World alongside some lo-fi locals and played with enough power to launch a pack of corned beef into orbit. Boasting the night’s heaviest sound, the group appealed to that baser instinct we all carry deep in our cannibal hearts: the instinct to groove.

This wasn’t Dérive’s first cow poke in Hattiesburg, so to speak. The group played several shows locally prior to March 15. What started as an off-handed 2013 show in Jackson ended with the band forming a relationship with venue owner Hampton Martin.

“Hampton ended up being one of just a few people to watch us, and he invited us to come play at his place next time we came through,” said Dérive vocalist Greg Nahabedian. “We played our first Hattiesburg show in January, 2014, and I think we've been back three more times since then.”

Nahabedian rockin' the accordian at Spice World
Derek Ellis / Courtesy Photo

According to Nahabedian, close-knit DIY communities like the one in Hattiesburg are sprinkled throughout the country. In such communities, they said, there are enough people to produce a lot of bands, but that it’s small enough so everyone can come to know each other.

“Every time we come to Hattiesburg, we are totally taken aback by the enthusiasm and coordination of its local musicians and fans,” Nahabedian said.

Drummer Paul DeGrandpre said the bands and community in Hattiesburg are always kind and helpful. He said the group spent 23 hours driving  from Los Angeles on their first visit to Hattiesburg.

DeGrandpre said touring with the group can be described as “Long periods of true garage truncated by brief shimmers of real beauty.”

“You kind of put yourself in a new world to get through it,” DeGrandpre said. “This tour we've all been putting on voices and characters. But I love it. I have a relatively professional job but they still let me tour. I have another band, too. So I'm working 60 hours a week and then practicing 4-5 nights every week too.”

For DeGrandpre, music is a way to cut loose after working so many weekly hours. To tour, he said, is to put all his work to the test.”

“Putting out records, doing art, writing the songs are all good for me,” DeGrandpre said. “It's the big release of actual years of effort for me.”

These reasons are why DeGrandpre takes his artistic endeavors seriously.

“It’s not a party for me,” he said. “I’ve gotten into arguments at shows from kinds who said, ‘Chill out, man, it’s just a party.’ And I'm like, ‘Dude, I'm in California. It took me 6 days just to drive out here. All I asked was you to not put your beer on my amp.’ It's a very real dream that I make a career, and I'm working every day to get there. That's really as simple as it gets.”

When asked if Dérive would return to Hattiesburg, DeGrandpre said they would likely come through again in the summer.

Noah Jacques diddlin' that bass at Spice World
Derek Ellis / Courtesy Photo

“Hattiesburg is almost always our favorite show on a tour, because people come out in force to see us and are really excited for the other bands on the bill,” said guitarist Paul Schmelz. “I think there's something about Hattiesburg punks that they're all really excited—that music is happening, and that's something that isn't as common as one would expect.”

Schmelz said the March 15 show’s tame atmosphere was certainly not a bad thing and that, at times, it’s respectful for audiences to allow each other to comfortably watch the bands they’re excited to see.

“And of course, there's something about playing a show where like half the people know most of the lyrics to most of your songs,” Schmelz said. “That's a kind of humbling experience I never seem to get over.”

DeGrandpre said Dérive’s future releases include “one in the chamber, two in progress and maybe a one-off thing just to do another release. For sure an EP and maybe even an LP.”

Needless to say, the Hattiesburg crowd has a lot of Dérive to look forward to—both live and in the punk bunker.

And as always, to be continued.

"Sweetheart" sings to soul - REVIEW

If I Die In Mississippi / Courtesy Photo

Cam Bonelli & Jack Hammett

Staff Reporters

On Feb. 4, Jonathan Hope of Hattiesburg lo-fi duo Jizz Kitten released a solo album titled “Sweetheart” under the moniker If I Die In Mississippi. The tape received acclaim from every which direction upon release, and its pull doesn’t seem to have a stopping point after getting much attention from DIY and, by extension, lo-fi communities and outlets.

The project’s name, If I Die In Mississippi, reaches the would-be listener deeply and immediately. The title seems to have been distilled from the music itself as it reflects the low guitar picking and warm tape noise that are present from the album’s onset. The name is a foreword of sorts, the beginning of a sentence the album finishes with “Detox,” an instrumental ellipsis that works its way into the listener’s darker head spaces.

In short, listening to this album is like living a dream underwater. To press play is to fall straight from one’s bed into the slow whirlpool of Hope’s lyrics and soon lose hope for resurfacing.

It takes multiple listens to catch the album’s every nuance, but one of the first things the listener will notice is Hope’s frankness and honesty. The words don’t dance circles around the subject matter and remain vague such that the songs can be interpreted in any way one chooses. Hope sends us reeling headfirst into his imagination without trying to shield us from the music’s core: song?

“Please don’t get weirded out by my overuse of exclamation marks in each text I send frantically / I swear I’m just genuinely excited to know you’re out there somewhere. / Maybe I’m a tad over enthusiastic about saying good morning / But I get the feeling that you don’t really hear it that often.”

If I Die In Mississippi / Courtesy Photo

Hope’s singing rests neatly inside the music, as his vocals are stylized in such a way that they almost warm your ears. The guitars peel their way through subtle tape noise and rain sounds to come out equally warm. That warmth quickly becomes the album’s trademark sound from the first few notes, like coffee on a cold morning, which is apt. The second song’s first lyrics are, “I want to drink coffee with you in the morning / Take you out for lunch when things get boring.”

Each element in Hope’s work serves specific purpose; nothing is accidental or filler. He meticulously constructs each song with genuine regard to how each sound fits — the lyrics, guitar, tonality and most notably, his voice. Hope’s lyrics reach the listener in the most vulnerable places, such as “The Castle Takes Time.”

“I’ve been talking to you by myself / in the driveway sometimes when I’m alone / and I’ve been wasting my life in my bed / hoping you would pick up the phone and it’s too bad.”

When watching Hope perform, the listener establishes an immediate connection the moment Hope opens his mouth.

The intimacy in Hope’s performance creates a bell jar around the listener and himself, as if you and he are the only ones in the room. Hope shuts everything out around him and looks to be swallowed by his own music. By disengaging, he in turn engages the audience, inviting them to watch as he constructs a beautiful microcosm of sound.

If I Die In Mississippi performing at Nick's Ice House
Photo: Cam Bonelli

No sound is too small to be forgotten as Hope employs the use of several instruments. He’s not just a musician playing music on stage. He creates an atmosphere that completely envelopes anyone who is watching and listening. Hope darts back and forth on stage to employ keyboard and guitar loops ultimately crafting the songs as opposed to merely playing them.

“Sweetheart” as a name perfectly defines the album’s tone as Hope’s music swells with nostalgia and sentimentality. This is not a typical low fidelity album. “Sweetheart” is a thing made, much in the spirit of William Carlos Williams’ artistic philosophy.

To listen to “Sweetheart” by If I Die In Mississippi, visit the If I Die In Mississippi Bandcamp page.
This story also appeared in The Student Printz.

Dumspell balances academics, shows

May Spooner belting it out during a set at Spice World.
Photo: Cam Bonelli

Jack Hammett

Staff reporter

Hattiesburg’s underground punk nation swells and bursts when its citizens commune for its regular three- or four-hour grooving spree. A great chunk of this grooving happens because of the local powerhouse bands who organize these ordeals themselves.

However, things are not always about cutting loose. Enter Dumspell, whose members contribute to these well-put- together blowouts but still manage to go to college.

“The hardest part is always balance,” said Mary Spooner, Dumspell vocalist and senior English major. “I’m in a band, graduating early, completing an honors thesis and trying to stay involved on campus. Shows are planned weeks in advance. I don’t always know yet what assignments or engagements I have that week or day, but I usually just say, ‘Yeah, what the hell.’” Spooner said making the time for going to shows and playing out is “always worth it.”

“Playing shows with Dumspell is cathartic,” Spooner said. “I get to yell, and be sassy and say whatever I want. Plus, I get to do it with some of my best friends.”

Dumspell's Olesya Ufimtseva
Photo: Cam Bonelli

Dumspell guitarist Olesya Ufimtseva earned her psychology degree in December. As such, she achieved the balance between going to college and playing shows.

“It can be tricky to find times when all of us can practice,” Ufimtseva said. “My schoolwork always used to be put on the back burner, so I’d have more time to practice [and] play shows. I still graduated though, so it’s totally doable.”

Ufimtseva said the solution to achieving this balance is to “never stop rocking.”

“Stay in school and get a degree, though,” Ufimtseva said. “I’m going to hang mine in the bathroom.”

Dumspell guitarist and senior Cody Bass is working toward his graphic design degree. Bass said his biggest challenge is managing his time.

“It’s hard to stay on top of things sometimes when you’ve constantly got homework, band practice, tests, shows and more to worry about,” Bass said. “It gets stressful, but I’m used to it and wouldn’t have it any other way. Being busy keeps me feeling refreshed and creative. I think if I weren’t at least a little stressed all the time, I would lose my mind because I’d be too bored.”

Bass said his secret to staying afloat is keeping track of his school and band schedules by writing everything down.

“[Spooner] has really made me realize how helpful that is, because she’s always writing stuff down in her planner,” Bass said. “I used to not be very organized, but  I can’t afford to not be anymore with everything I have going on.”

According to Dumspell members, playing and studying is feasible as long as there is some degree of time management.

Dumspell performs regularly at the Porn Hall. To learn more about this band and listen to their music, visit their Bandcamp profile. Their latest release is a self-titled demo.

This story was originally published in The Student Printz.

Denver, St.Louis bands to grace the Porn Hall

Cam Bonelli + Jack Hammett

 Staff Reporters

Life Like / Courtesy Photo

The Porn Hall will host another show featuring music from local and out-of-state punkers.

On Feb. 4, a five-band lineup will fill Keith’s living room. The expected bands are Life Like of Saint Louis, Blank Bodies of Denver, Table Manners of Jackson and Hattiesburg natives Baghead and Dumspell.

Porn Hall resident and owner Hampton Martin said on the event Facebook page that Life Like is “hardcore” and “the real deal.”

“The first time I saw this band, it was a generator show under a bridge in New Orleans next

Life Like / Courtesy Photo

to some railroad tracks,” Martin said. “The cops came and broke it up, and everyone moshed extra hard.”

According to Life Like vocalist Joe Sulier, the band has been playing for three or four years and released a 7-inch with Deranged Records, a couple of tapes with Lumpy Records and an EP with Kreep Treet Records. The band has done four U.S. tours, and their upcoming tour is with Blank Bodies, who will also perform at the Porn Hall.

“Our sound is pretty straightforward hardcore,” Sulier said. “Someone described us as a mix between Born Against and ‘80s New York hardcore.”

According to Sulier, Life Like’s next tour will start Jan. 31 in Kentucky and end Feb. 9 in Oklahoma City.

The show will start 7 p.m. at the Porn Hall with a $4 to $7 donation at the door for the touring bands.

Life Like / Courtesy Photo

This article was corrected: The headline suggested that Life Like is from Chicago. They are from St. Louis.Denver, St. Louis bands to grace the Porn Hall

Big Bleach welcomes diversity in punk scene

Big Bleach performing a set at Spice World on Jan. 21.
Photo: Cam Bonelli

Cam Bonelli, Staff Reporter

A funky purple and black border and four familiar faces adorn the front of Big Bleach’s latest tape, “Under the Bleacherz.” The cassette was available at the band’s homecoming performance at Spice World, the latest addition to the do-it-yourself punk scene. It is evident from the heightened intensity of the crowd why Big Bleach commands the scene.

The band members not only engage the audience while performing, but will call crowd members by name and give them a “thanks, man” after the show. It is their unmitigated hospitality in Hattiesburg and on tour that continues to expand the local music scene beyond local performances.

Big Bleach’s successful performance at Spice World on Jan. 21 resulted from their recent 10-day tour spanning across nine states. During the set, the band received praise that reciprocated their performance’s intensity.

The tour influenced more than their amplified performance ability. According to the band, punks from all over are talking about Hattiesburg. Some out-of-state bands want to deliver their own unique punk brand to the Hub City.

Big Bleach guitarist and Baghead singer Hampton Martin shared his personal thoughts on how the tour has positively impacted the punk scene in Hattiesburg and at large.

Hampton Martin on guitar during the Jan. 21 show.
Photo: Cam Bonelli

“More punk bands wanting to play in Hattiesburg can only be a positive thing,” Martin said. “The entirety of the punk DIY subculture revolves around live music [and] always has. Without the music and these bands, [the scene] could never evolve into something greater. More bands mean more shows, and more shows can mean a lot of things.”

It is more than the music. The scene’s expansion allows for a wider array of diversification. The welcoming environment of both the Porn Hall and Spice World cater to the band’s mentality to inspire everyone around them to join. Martin commented on the idea of expanding the punk scene not only in terms of sound but the people involved.

“There’s been a huge push in the punk scene for a greater representation of the non-white male,” Martin said. “Seeing a band that does have [a member who is] black, trans, female or whatever — it can be super important to someone and give them that push to want to join the greater punk scene.”

Big Bleach’s determination has not gone unnoticed by frequent venue participants. Hattiesburg resident punk head Jordy Boof said the Porn Hall, its residents and the people who frequent it are the new generation of local freethinkers who have an ability to impact their surroundings for the better.

“I can honestly say they’re some of the most motivated, determined group of young adults I’ve had the pleasure of knowing,” Boof said. “With all of the incarnations of all of their bands, they’ve certainly done a lot for the local scene. They’re the last vestige of DIY in this godforsaken town.”

The impression Big Bleach has made on people around the country engage them to talk about Hattiesburg’s music scene. Their success as a sub-culture gives people hope and that is why it is imperative to expand the scene.

Big Bleach bassist Harley White said there was an almost overwhelming sense of hospitality in every city they visited.

“It has done a lot for our scene in Hattiesburg because we have met so many people that had no idea that Hattiesburg was the rock and roll capital of the Southeast,” White said.

Evidence suggests that Big Bleach’s warmth has a residual effect on everyone who participates in its shows or shows hosted at its venues. The value of the punk subculture in Hattiesburg has extended to the national scene.

By this merit, local artists’ significance will only grow.

This story was originally published in The Student Printz.

Local, out-of-state bands throw down at Spice World

Dumspell blasting the first set.
Photo: Cam Bonelli

Jack Hammett, Staff Reporter

On Thursday, a crowd of 40 confirmed patrons huffed it through a lightning storm to take cover beneath the roof of Spice World, the punk scene’s latest underground venue. Bands slated to play were locals Dumspell and Big Bleach and out-of-state rock favorites Gland (New Orleans) and Plastic (Chicago). The weather, surprisingly, had no effect on the turnout.


Spice World carries the Porn Hall’s same mystique, a house venue with a slightly smaller show space than that of the latter. Though this was only the spot’s second show, Spice World has climbed the rung to be a legitimate and celebrated place of nighttime mayhem. It would seem having a sister venue to the Porn Hall has impacted the scene positively, as there are new faces who come crawling to the door, ready to groove and otherwise slam, with each new show. This relatively new spot is a triumph—another way weird strangers can come together and form meaningful connections.

The music started at approximately 7:40 p.m., with Dumspell playing the opening set. The band played during my first Porn Hall stint and have since advanced in terms of tightness and power. Vocalist Mary Spooner had us by the collar at the second number, and the band took its fullest swing by the third. Since I last reviewed this group, I’ve listened to their self-titled demo countless times. I can safely say the quintet succeeds itself when performing live. The rhythm section—Bradly Presson on drums and PJ Ladner on bass—resonated like a jackhammer. Having been so invested in their tape, the live experience was heightened. As a side note, they executed a Dumspell-branded cover of Gloria Jones’ “Tainted Love”—after which someone called out, “Yeah! Marilyn Manson!”—and gave the evening a killer start.

The second set saw the return of none other than local punk darlings Big Bleach, the venerable Porn Hall residents and owners. The group only just got home from a tour across the country, and they truly showed their teeth as a result. I was lucky enough to stand near guitarist Hampton Martin and observe his and drummer Zach Burton’s technique. Martin slides through his bar chords like jazz, and Burton complements by playing tight as an eel’s ass. Big Bleach’s return to Hattiesburg was nothing less than overpowering. I can’t commend this group enough for the sheer depth and tightness of their live work—from the seamless tempo changes to the smooth song transitions. Big Bleach has quickly ascended to being one of my all-time favorite bands, hands down. And props to bass player Harley White for ripping on his respective instrument and for consistently being a cornerstone of the crowd’s ceaseless dance. It wouldn’t be a proper show without seeing his face and hearing his trademark “Hey, man!”

Big Bleach during the second set.
From left: Sarah Krock, Harley White, Hampton Martin, Zach Burton
Photo: Cam Bonelli

Gland’s set is where things got complicated. This group brought something a little different to Spice World, a sound that had the crowd grooving and listening closely for the first three or so numbers, which were quieter than previous sets but gave reason to dance. (Nobody ever said louder is necessarily better.) The quick tempos started up before long, and audience members thrashed at the first opportunity. The set was a lengthy and slow burn. Their style can only be summarized as wild, weird and cool. And I can’t help but feel the need to shine a light on their bravery as a band: they were all women, one of whom being a person of color. Punk scenes, like anything else, severely need representation, whether it be racial, sexual or otherwise. Bands like Gland are important because it’s truly in the spirit of punk for marginalized persons to play out and express themselves fiercely.

Gland during the third set.
Photo: Cam Bonelli

Plastic of Chicago is an interesting case in that they were initially described as synth punk. When it comes to bands from out of town, I usually stay away from hitting groups’ music profiles. (I like to stay surprised. It keeps me on my toes.) My first impressions were somewhat off-putting, if not pleasantly so. The music at first seemed a little disjointed from itself, synthesizers rolling out over strong punk instrumentation. I quickly found myself adapting and appreciating the deconstruction of what’s acceptably punk. That’s part of punk’s beauty—that you can tear it down, rebuild it and still know it’s punk.

For more information on these bands, or for a good listen, you can hit their respective Bandcamp profiles. More information on the Porn Hall and on Spice World can be found nowhere. Locations and dates are given on a need-to-know basis.

All photos taken by Cam Bonelli.

This story was originally published in The Student Printz.