Review of Schwervon and Berth Control from final Dufus show

http://thejoyofviolentmovement.tumblr.com/post/1226844411/live-concert-r...

(there's some nice photo's of the show on this site above)

Schwervon and Berth Control

Cake Shop

Saturday, September 25, 2010

I really want to thank those idiots at the Metropolitan Transit Authority for having the F train go on the A line between West 4th Street to Brooklyn, forcing me to take the E train to 53rd and Lexington, transfer to the downtown 6 and walk across town on a ridiculously humid late September night from Bleecker Street. By the time I walked to Citibank to get cash and arrived at Cake Shop, I was drenched with sweat and feeling terribly uncomfortable. Of course, it could have been a lot worse – there could have been torrential downpours; it could have been below freezing or a blizzard. But consider the relentless dedication some of your favorite music critics go through and that should be comforting to you! Think of all the shows I’ve gone to where I’ve been bored to death, been shoved, pushed or have had beer spilled on me, all to report on the next new thing or have photographic evidence of some new goings on. Hell, there was one show where I bumped heads with the lead singer of the band while taking photos. Sure, I risked getting a concussion or worse, but the picture I took wound up being pretty fucking amazing.

I wound up getting to Cake Shop a little later than expected – only to discover that every set was running at least 45 minutes behind, instead of the normal 15 to 20 minutes behind. Granted, I wasn’t in a terrible rush but it was still mildly irritating, and a little bit confusing. For a few moments there was this odd sensation of not knowing if I was early or late or what was going on. Without realizing it, I was so confused that I briefly thought the first full set I caught actually was Berth Control – both this band and Berth Control have singers who are tall, kind of lanky redheads. Luckily, two thirds of the way through this band’s set, I discovered that this band was Schwervon. Schwervon, was a duo of a guitarist and a drummer and the similarities to acts such as the Raveonettes and in particular the White Stripes, mixed a bit with a band like the Pixies – both Schwervon and the White Stripes have that simplistic, bluesy sound that immediately harkens to the days of Chuck Berry, the Big Bopper and others. Yes, no matter what, the formula is a bit clichéd and cynical jaded ears, will probably be bored. Several of their songs sounded extremely familiar even if I couldn’t put my fingers to them. Still they had a goofy charm that won me over for a bit. Their stage banter was full of ridiculous jokes, including a weird anecdote about running into the dude who actually wrote the famous Joan Jett song “I Love Rock ‘N Roll,” playing his guitar somewhere on Avenue C. Apparently, the guy had been embittered about the Runaways biopic about Joan Jett, Cherie Curie, the founding of the Runaways and their eventual breakup. Apparently, the man was bothered by the portrayal of the hit song’s writing and was extremely bitter about it – perhaps rightfully so. Overall, their set was at least entertaining (which is all you can ask for, really).

Berth Control, the band I was actually there to see quietly set up and then they did something kind of odd, and from what I was told later, somewhat unplanned: they walked off the stage for a few minutes, leaving the audience feeling momentarily baffled. Suddenly a few moments later, drumming, singing and trumpeting was emanating from the back of Cake Shop’s tiny, basement performance space. In fact, at least 7 maybe even 8 people somehow marched through the crowd wearing variations of Adam Ant and the Ants-styled war paint. I’ve been to a lot of shows and seen a lot of things – including people light money on fire, hump stages and other inanimate objects and generally have the appearance of demonic possession – but I hadn’t seen anything like this in a while. The four or five regular members, plus their assorted guest performers then somehow crowded on and around the tiny stage and played a wild, rambling set full of quirky, punk rock energy and attitude – but with a little bit more muscular insistence than their EPs and other recordings. Song lyrics were alternately sung, yelled and even snarled, occasionally displaying off kilter bits of nihilism and irony while being playfully juvenile. And during several songs of their set, I was reminded of bands such as the Pixies and most importantly, the Violent Femmes. During the set, one of their guitarists had some issue with his guitar and wound up stopping and joined in some ecstatic singing, bopping and headbanging around. Was this on purpose? Was this part of their set? What was the deal with the luchador masks? Overall, that was very strange but it was somehow kind of funny. And despite several frustrating sound issues, typical of small music clubs across the city, Berth Control’s energy was infectious and overwhelmed the entire audience. Much like how they ended their set, the band picked up their drums and other assorted instruments, and drummed and sang their way through the crowd in a single file line.

I walked upstairs and out towards Ludlow Street to make a quick phone call, figure out which bar I was going to, certain that I saw something that the rest of the blogosphere will be playing attention to and talking about over the upcoming months. Add to that the most interesting, strangest show I’ve seen in several months.

For more photos please check out the following link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yankee32879/sets/72157624939548941/