You hear a lot of talk these days about rock being dead. It’s a very fashionable thing to say, based on “diminished market share” or the lineup and crowd sizes at Coachella, but at the local and underground level we know better. Yes it’s true that the local scene isn’t particularly well supported by Western New York beyond the wonderful music fans that do, in part because some rock fans are sitting home complaining about rock being dead, but the fact remains that rock is very much alive, and tonight it’s going to be at the Mohawk when hometown heroes Made Violent bring it all back with some help from local skull crushers Ugly Sun and Philadelphia indie rockers Cold Fronts.
Combining propulsive garage rock with Tweedyesque vocals and strong melodies, Cold Fronts feel like they’re actually a band on a big label worth a damn. Discovered by the justifiably legendary impresario Seymour Stein, the guy who signed Talking Heads, The Ramones, The Pretenders and Madonna, and signed to his very own Sire Records, Cold Fronts is out here promoting their sophomore album, Fantasy Du Jour, a potent and agitated effort that draws on a downtown punk sound that has the band defiantly kicking the sophomore slump… and kicking hard and ready to throw down musically with the local fellas representing on the bill.
Beloved local troublemakers Made Violent, back from a national gallivant with HUNNY and energized by the recent release of their long awaited follow up EP Squeeze, will be teaming up with hard living comrades in arms Ugly Sun, who’ve got some new music of their own to play for their local fans, so you really shouldn’t sleep on this show or any part of it.
“Rock is dead.” Good luck with that. Doors open at 7:30pm and tickets are still available for $14.