Olde Shame – 5 Song Demo, December 2012 (self-released)
Olde Shame could be counted as a supergroup of sorts, if you’re heavily involved with RVA’s noise/experimental music scene. Featuring Caves Caverns drummer Mike Raftery on vocals, Bermuda Triangles drummer Tony Lynch on guitar, Flesh Control mastermind Leo Heinzel on drums, and bassist Wilbo Glavin, formerly of Human Smoke, they’ve certainly got all the pieces in place to create a noisy, unhinged, psychedelic improv quartet. Instead, though, the members of Olde Shame have come together to make old school, no-frills hardcore punk, which they do with highly enjoyable results on their brand new five-song demo.
Olde Shame – 5 Song Demo, December 2012 (self-released)
Olde Shame could be counted as a supergroup of sorts, if you’re heavily involved with RVA’s noise/experimental music scene. Featuring Caves Caverns drummer Mike Raftery on vocals, Bermuda Triangles drummer Tony Lynch on guitar, Flesh Control mastermind Leo Heinzel on drums, and bassist Wilbo Glavin, formerly of Human Smoke, they’ve certainly got all the pieces in place to create a noisy, unhinged, psychedelic improv quartet. Instead, though, the members of Olde Shame have come together to make old school, no-frills hardcore punk, which they do with highly enjoyable results on their brand new five-song demo.
These five songs are crammed together into one ten-minute mp3, and I suppose if you have Audacity or a similar program, you can chop it apart into separate mp3s for the purpose of easy shuffling or ipod DJ-ing a drunken punk rock house party. But since Olde Shame never really stop playing, ending each song with a clanging wail of feedback that immediately flows into the next track, you really probably should just leave it all one mp3 in order to get the full effect. The demo features three originals, which are followed by covers of Marginal Man (“Missing Rungs”) and The Dicks (“Dead In A Motel Room”). They’ve also been known to play a GG Allin cover live, and these choices of cover tunes makes it pretty clear what Olde Shame are going for–fast, angry, negative-sounding music with a clear basis in rock n’ roll. This is why I’d call them “hardcore punk” rather than straight up hardcore. The original early 80s hardcore bands often strove to separate themselves from the more soulful, musical aspects of the early rock n’ roll music that provided punk rock with its initial template, and Olde Shame are not interested in doing that. Tony Lynch’s simple guitar leads often constitute nothing more than repeating a few notes that are in harmony with the main riff of the song, but even these moments help to offset the monomaniacal pounding of the rhythm section and add a toe-tapping flair that keeps these songs from blurring together.
There is definitely a higher risk of blur than there normally would be, not only in the way that all the songs flow together but also in the relatively primitive recording technology used to create this demo. There’s no way this demo was recorded using more than four tracks–and it might have been less. Fortunately, you can still hear everything that’s being played, though the bass fades into the background, as is often the case on lo-fi recordings. More importantly, the raw recording captures Olde Shame’s live energy in a way that might not be summed up on a cleaner, clearer recording. Having seen them live just a couple of weeks ago at the Nile, I can tell you that these guys deliver the goods in person. Even if you can’t always make everything out perfectly, there’s more than enough coming through to move you. Cranking this demo provides much the same result–plus, if you listen really closely, you can almost make out Mike Raftery’s lyrics. Bellowing about Zodiac signs and a distrust of modern technology, Raftery expresses viewpoints far from the generic subjects that show up in a lot of punk and hardcore music. His vocals are delivered at a lower pitch than is typical for the genre, and may take a bit of getting used to, but the unique spirit and throat-shredding passion he puts into his singing is enough to win over any doubters.
It can seem at times like the whole hardcore/punk thing is done to death. And when you consider how many totally generic bands play in that style for years without ever adding anything to it, it can be tempting to write off any new bands who choose to play a basic, old-school version of hardcore/punk music, without even giving them a proper listen. Olde Shame proves that this isn’t always a winning strategy; without making any fundamental changes to the hardcore formula, they’ve nonetheless created an enjoyable example of the style. They pay tribute to their influences through obscure and unlikely covers, rather than ripping off their sound and expecting to get by on established ritual and reverence for past masters. I wouldn’t say this for just any hardcore/punk band who springs up in RVA these days, but Olde Shame are definitely worth checking out. Their demo is available now for streaming or download on soundcloud, and their next show, a free show with Hot Dolphin and Tom Blacklung and the Smokestacks, is at Bandito’s Burrito Lounge (2905 Patterson Ave) on Sunday, January 13 at 9 PM.
