My lovely dreadlocked and worldly French friend Elodie had flown in to visit me in New York and we've sort of bonded about cool bands like these and others like Kylesa and Fear Of God for years, so once we finally met up in the Lower East Side we eagerly raced to Union Pool. The venue was packed for this sold out show and we arrived too late to see United Nations finish their set, but I can tell you the last song was pounding violently through the walls of the men's room while I pissed out some of my nervous excitement!

Made Out Of Babies were electric, with bassist Cooper's gut-punching tone causing packed together bodies to tremble. Despite the severely abrasive nature of the music, the vibe at the sweaty venue on this otherwise chilly night was one of near bliss. Everyone was extremely psyched about the bill and the good-natured mayhem was very catching as beer after beer was slammed. Julie Christmas stalked the stage, panting heavily between songs and even gashing open her head quite badly at one point. It was very metal. "Mr. Prison Shanks" from Coward was a highlight, though the most captivating moment of a truly great set was when the Daryl Hannah circa Bladerunner channelling Christmas' and her band dropped it down a notch for the eerie "Buffalo". That song feels like having serious DT's in the middle of the dust bowl, just sheer hopeless three-legged dog type vibes. This band only gets better with each release and let's hope that they stick around a long time. Every time I see them I feel like Julie could easily win the stone cold stare down contest at the end of any good Sergio Leone western, even though she is really nice in real life.

Unsane took the stage and I felt extremely lucky to be here on such a bad ass night. I hadn't seen the band since a week or two after the "Scrape" video came out well over a decade ago back when Coney Island High was still open and I was too young to drink! I remember back at that show Chris Spencer was handing out drink tickets and gave me one and I bought a huge vodka drink with it and was so excited to meet him (even though I was super wasted) that I threw up in the glass a little, forgot and then accidentally drank it in front of him! Suffice to say he didn't talk to me for long. Well, not a lot has changed about me in the many years since then, and while it had been ages since I had seen Unsane in all their molten, subway car screeching over your face live glory, they have remained one of my biggest influences. I had actually covered "Scrape" at a one-off reunion show for a band of mine that hadn't played in 12 years just a few weeks earlier!

The crowd was super appreciative and it felt like a real true Brooklyn night as the massive near tribal drums of the legendary Vinnie Signorelli filled the room. I love Vinnie's playing so much. It is so precise and yet barbaric, making the most of every hit plus he recently kicked major ass drumming on Jarboe's Mahakali release. Unsane kept talking about their friendship and how cool it was to be there, with Chris Spencer seeming to be in a great mood. The set was culled from many releases and I believe included "Body Bomb", but the majority of songs were from their Scattered, Smothered & Covered release. Recent records like Visqueen and Blood Run prove just how consistent they have been over the years, displaying a great "if it aint broke..." attitude while still managing to artistically push themselves. This is the epitome of a true lifer band. The highlight of the set was the sweaty pigfuck fest "Alleged", with Chris trying out different harmonicas before ripping it up like a bluesy demon as the band decimated faces. I am so glad that I grew up with these guys instead of the glut of shit heavy bands out now. Thank God the last few years have seen a lot of cooler bands starting to pop up in the underground again, 'cuz there was a lot of sterile cloning going on the last few years. Don't you want to be awesome? I mean, you probably will never be as sickening as Unsane or MOOB, but don't you want to at least try and have balls? It is all about vibe and attitude, man, and it don't get more "don't give a fuck, I'm from New York" than when Chris tuned his guitar in the middle of "Scrape", the band's biggest "hit". They didn't stop and just barreled forward anyway, taking it all in stride.