Noisy Punk Bill Takes Over Make-Out Room
By Dave Pehling
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A San Francisco band made up of local scene veterans tops the bill at this noisy punk show Thursday when Pins of Light shares the stage with LA quartet Birth Defects and local crossover thrash/punk crew War Bison at the Make-Out Room.
One of the most unique sounding bands on San Francisco's experimental punk rock fringe, Pins of Light features a talented quartet of musicians with solid pedigrees including former and current members of such noted SF bands as Dead and Gone, Triclops!, Hightower, Peace Creep and Night After Night. Armed with a desire to push the boundaries of heavy music, the group put out it's eponymous debut for Alternative Tentacles in 2012.
The album showcased bassist Shane Baker's growling vocal delivery and a sound that split the difference between two bands anchored by late bass legend Lemmy: the pulsing, riff-driven space rock of Hawkwind and the pummeling, raucous attack of Motörhead. Last year, the group self-released a second collection of songs entitled Home that boasts more sci-fi sound effects and some of the group's most compelling songwriting yet.
For this early show at the Make-Out Room in the Mission, Pins of Light will be joined by feral LA-based punks The Birth Defects. Led by SF expatriate Jason Finazzo and featuring former Thee Oh Sees guitarist Petey Dammit, ex Bleached bassist Jonathan Safley and drummer Jason Gerkin (who played with Shiner, Hum and Molly McGuire), the high-octane band issued its ferocious Ty Segall-produced debut First 8 Mistakes on Ghost Ramp Records in 2015 to rave reviews. Blasting out of speakers at breakneck tempos, chaotic anthems like album opener "The Walls" and self-destructive celebration "Party Suicide" captured the frantic spirit of early efforts by Zeke, the Dwarves and REO Speedealer mixed with elements of '90s noise-rock that recalled Unsane and the Jesus Lizard (particularly on "Bricks").
Finazzo would eventually put together a completely different trio line-up with drummer Anthony Drinkwater (who also plays in LA psychobilly band the Rocketz) and madman Danish bassist Philip Neilsen (whose resume includes stints in proto-punk band Swarming Orchids, southern rock trio Grit and synth-pop group Tic Tic Boom among other projects), touring the U.S. extensively with the Coathangers. Legend of the Seagullmen guitarist Tim Dawson joined the Birth Defects last year, filling out the line-up that recorded the band's sophomore effort for Ghost Ramp, Everything is Fine, that was released in January.
While still featuring some of the hectic punk mayhem that has become the band's trademark ("YOLF" and "Lost Control"), the new recording explores decidedly weirder sounds ranging from the heavily processed guitar on "Endless Pain" and the dramatic tempo shift on the sludgy "Dyelisiem" to the chanted vocals on the swirling psychedelic dirge "Sunday Morning Mantra" that closes the album. Opening the show is SF band War Bison, who dish out a mix of hardcore punk and thrash that echoes crossover pioneers D.R.I. and their modern disciples like Power Trip and Municipal Waste.
Pins of Light and the Birth Defects
Thursday, April 26, 7 p.m. $10
The Make-Out Room
