Toxic Narcotic
with Acid Bath, D.R.I. at The Rat
by Elizabeth Curran
Toxic Narcotic had a bit of bad luck, losing their drum kit shortly after starting their set. After asking politely, then begging, for either Acid Bath or D.R.I. to lend theirs, and to no avail, they valiantly finished with what they had and did one hell of a job despite the setback. My first time to check out these local dudes, and they are brutal. They kind of reminded me of Drop Dead, and in fact, after I squeezed up to the front of the stage, I noticed one of the guys was wearing a Drop Dead shirt.
Acid Bath, rising from the swamps of the Louisiana bayous with their pulsating bass and voice of eternal doom, followed. Dax Riggs’ voice is kind of like a melodic trill over a deep and angry growl. You hear so many influences in Acid Bath’s music (hardcore and Gothic), this band is hard to categorize (pick up When The Kite String Pops (Rotton) and judge for yourself). I liked “Tranquilized” best, and the last number, “Die.”
By the time D.R.I. (i.e. Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, that’s what vocalist Kurt Brecht’s Dad hollered after sticking his head through the door during their third practice session – and since they were recording the session on their boombox, the moment of christening was forever immortalized on audio tape) hit the stage, The Rat was packed. They opened up with “Soup Kitchen” – very appropriate, since these guys have been so poor that not only were they forced to eat in soup kitchens (or starve), but Kurt Brecht lived in a tree for a year, and Spike Cassidy lived for a while under a broken-down Volkswagen.
Kurt shouted “Any Slayer fans out there?” Arms with fists clenched shot upward. Kurt mentioned (for anyone who has been on another planet for the last six months) that Slayer’s next studio effort, consisting (with only two exceptions) entirely of covers of hardcore punk tunes, will include a cover of D.R.I’s “Violent Pacification.” After D.R.I. had gotten about ten seconds into this anthem, security suddenly gave the boot to about a dozen overly-enthusiastic moshers (seems one or two misguided Slayer fans got a bit carried away and attacked a security guard). Attack each other, yes! No problem! But stay away from people with “Staff” on their shirts. The band launched into “Problematic,” the first track from their 8th album, Full Speed Ahead (Rotton), and then dedicated the next song (something about hatred) to the security guards. D.R.I. kept the pit going with “Who Am I?” which has become their theme song (as in “D.R.I./Who am I?”), two more tunes from the new album “I’m The Liar,” and “Girl With A Gun,” then ended the set with “Dry Heaves,” and “Five Year Plan.” A good show!
