The Showcase Showdown
at The Middle East Cafe
by Joey Ammo
Hey, who remembers the glory days of punk? Not just the Sex Pistols, but bands like Circle Jerks, Dead Kennedys, or our own punk glory days with SSD, Mission of Burma, and Volcano Suns? Would you believe a foursome of young twentysomethings are perhaps the only Boston band still creating this historical sound? Welcome to the wacky world of The Showcase Showdown, filled with media icons like Paul Lynde and Bill Cullin, refrains like “Fuck you, I’m Liberace; fuck you I got his shoes,” and titles like Chickens, their latest 7″.
To see the Showcase live (don’t you love presumptuous journalistic freedom) is to understand the true sentimentality of punk’s poetry. The conflicting resolution of apathy, joy and anger can be seen all over the faces of this fun foursome. Vocalist Albert Genna, looking like an evil Tolkien character, may be sullenly glaring out from under a brooding brow and then suddenly begin pogo-ing around the stage with abandon. Guitarist Tom Cloherty’s facial expressions alone are worth the price of admission. Lurch-like drummer Steve Maxwell (“the quiet one”), hovers over his traps like an apathetic vulture waiting to feast on a carcass, and coy, punk-girl bassist Victoria Arthur plays a Gibson Explorer that’s bigger than she is and has a right hand that blurrily appears to possess ten fingers.
On a recent Sunday night upstairs at the Middle East, they took the unenviable spot of opening with a classically disinterested soundman who wouldn’t even play music between sets. They turned the small room into a scene. All eyes turned to the tiny stage for the pumping, post-punkers and fists flew into the air to join the “oi, oi, oi, oi” refrain of their favorite Blitz cover. The articulate Mr. Genna explained that they were happy to grow along the grassroots, increasing in popularity through word of mouth (read, the old school way), and have no desire to “hard sell” the band to anyone. This is a culturally significant act with real dignity, and they’re a hell of a lot of fun, too. Go see them now.
