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What’s up Sorry Staters?
Once again, it feels like it’s been a while since I’ve checked in. We’re well into October now, and I always love this time of year. The weather starts getting a bit cooler, and as Halloween approaches, I get excited to binge trashy horror movies. We’ll be decorating the storefront here at Sorry State to get into the spirit. There’s also gonna be a Halloween cover show on the 31st, which I’m excited about. It’s gonna be a benefit gig, with all proceeds going toward support for disaster relief in Western North Carolina.
Before that gig though, I wanna reiterate that The Ejaculators are coming to play Raleigh on October 20th along with Meat House and DE()T at RUMAH. Should be a killer gig. Don’t miss it!
Also, I think this is the first time I’m announcing that BLOODSTAINS from Southern California are coming to play Raleigh as well! Along with support from Norfolk’s ragers RECKONING FORCE, and also semi-locals SHAVED APE and MEAT HOUSE. At King’s on November 10th! A rager for the season, I feel sure.
What else have I been doing since the last time I wrote for the newsletter? I suppose I haven’t even talked about Public Acid and Invertebrates’ Midwest tour surrounding Unlawful Assembly fest in Milwaukee. It was a short run of shows, but MAN, did we have a blast. I would hop in a van and travel with the combination of mofos in those 2 bands any day. Between duckpin bowling in Indianapolis while goofing off and talking like Fonzie, getting extra cheesy at the Mars Castle, and my first experience with reluctant hospitality and excessive taxidermy at the Third Man Records’ green room… there was more tomfoolery than most HCPMF’s would be able to handle.
So, let’s talk about Cicada. I was obviously previously familiar with this band because they’re based out Richmond. I often run into the dudes in the band at shows and stuff. I’ve seen Cicada play in Richmond several times and always thought they were great. But on this Midwest tour, Public Acid gigged with them in Chicago, and also at the fest in Milwaukee. Firstly, we played together at The Empty Bottle in Chicago. The sound was excellent, and granted, it had been quite a while since the last time I saw Cicada, but fuck… they just blew me away. They opened with a cover of “Easy Targets” by Cheetah Chrome Motherfuckers and fuckin’ nailed it. My jaw hit the floor. The crowd just totally exploded with energy. Then during their set at the Cactus Club in Milwaukee, the guitar player Brendan had a moment where he played alone, spiraling on this long, drawn-out guitar riff which was an extended rendition of the opening track on the band’s demo tape. With like total command of the crowd, I just watched all these kids creepy crawl over/dogpile onto one another in this mess of anxious, violent, anticipatory energy. It was so raging and insane. I just stood there after they finished playing, just going, “Holy shit.” And experiencing Cicada live on this trip was all before I’d even heard their new EP.
Cicada has a new 7” entitled Wicked Dream, appropriately released on the Unlawful Assembly label. Sorry State always tries to stock as many copies of the new releases on Unlawful Assembly as we can, but they often can only afford to give us a handful of copies. I half expect this new EP to be sold out by the time this edition of the newsletter comes out. The primary recorded output by Cicada I’ve digested over the last year or so is the band’s demo… ya know, which clocks in at under 4 minutes of music total. The cassette I have is pretty lo-fi from a recording standpoint. It totally works for them and still sounds totally raging. But after seeing Cicada in Chicago and experiencing how powerful the band sounded, I personally hoped the recording on their new 7” would do them more justice. Admittedly, the recording on this new record is still pretty raw. But I would say it’s a sonic facelift compared to the cassette. And granted, Cicada having a super modern, slick sounding record would probably sound totally weird and out of place.
How do I describe Cicada’s music to one of you readers who might be unfamiliar? I mentioned CCM earlier, which I think is a fairly detectable influence. The way I feel about Cicada when I hear them is that they draw from some of the MOST weirdo, outsider bands within outsider music, and blend those reference points into a potent and effective Molotov cocktail. How appropriate that a label based out of Milwaukee put out the band’s record, because surely whoever writes the riffs in this band must be a fan of Die Kreuzen. Like, MUST be. Then, the singer Jordan has this vomitous but burly low-pitched growl that for sure makes me think of United Mutation. But beyond these 80s hardcore comparisons, I think there is something unique and special about what Cicada is doing in the current landscape of hardcore punk. It feels true to form, but also completely fresh and out of left field. It’s chaotic, frantic, and dissonant. But still, there’s something about the way the band stitches musical ideas together that feels clever. It’s intelligent, while managing to definitely NOT be prog-y in any way. These songs still go for the throat in the most maniacal of fashion, but also, the band is playing their asses off. It doesn’t feel like the band is throwing riffs at the wall in a noisy mess and seeing what sticks. In fact, the conviction and intention with which these songs are put together makes me kinda… jealous, I guess? Maybe if you’re the type of hardcore listener whose platonic ideal is Agnostic Front, then Cicada will surely not be the band for you. But for me, this band is ticking ALL the boxes. Dare I say, best current hardcore band in America? Honestly, I might.
Enough gushing. But if you’re able to get your hands on a copy of this 7”, whether from Sorry State or elsewhere, I give it my highest possible recommendation.
That’s all I’ve got this round. As always, thanks for reading.
‘Til next week,
-Jeff