It begins with the house lights going down. Then the crowd noise builds with clamoring and cheers. Trumpets swell from nowhere and Spanish guitar fills the room. As the band plugs in the crowd grows louder. Then Brandon Phillips, front man of the Kansas City punk outfit The Architects alerts the masses at Palladium in Los Angeles “here we fucking go.”
Kicking off their set with “Cold Hard Facts,” the opening track from their 2008 release Vice, The Architects make it clear that they do not fuck around live. With bolder and booming vocals and a more deafening drum definition, the accelerated live version of the song launches them headstrong into their straightforward, no-bullshit approach to their music. The seven song set, which features six originals and a solid AC/DC cover featuring My Chemical Romance guitarist Ray Toro, tears through a range of energy and anarchy found only in honest blue collar punk. From the stellar bass lines of “Bastards at the Gate” to the dance punk elements of “Year of the Rat” and “Don’t Call it a Ghetto,” Live in Los Angeles offers a documentary-style shot of why this band remains the hardest working collective in Kansas City. Every single note, drum beat and guitar solo is full tilt and turned up.
Set list:
Cold Hard Facts
Bastards at the Gate
Year of the Rat
Daddy Wore Back
Sin City (AC/DC)
Don’t Call it a Ghetto
Pills
–Joshua Hammond
After stints drumming for both The Afternoons and Jenny Carr and the Waiting List in the Lawrence/Kansas City music scene, Joshua Hammond found his footing as a music journalist, launching the national publication Popwreckoning. After running the show as Editor in Chief for 6 years, Hammond stepped away from the reigns to freelance for other publications like Under The Gun Review and High Voltage Magazine. This shift allowed the adequate amount of time for him to write passionately, allow the Kansas City Royals to break his heart on a daily basis and spoon his cats just enough that they don’t shred his vinyl. |