Bomb the Music Industry! @ Knitting Factory, 6/24 review

A sense of camaraderie and unity filled the sold out tap bar space at Knitting Factory for the Bomb the Music Industry! show. All the bands were friends of each others, helped each other by sharing equipment, and all provided some type of punk music that proved to be a fun time.

Cheeky, a 4-piece from NY played upbeat/ garage punk that really got me pumping my fist in the air and bobbing my head. They played songs off their Choke on a Cheeseburger ep, notably “Get Outta Here,” which closed the set.

Bridge and Tunnel featured an indie/ rock punk brand of dual female/male vocals. They put on a great set. It sounds like their influences are Cursive and Hot Water Music.

Lemuria was lighter than the other bands. The vocalists sounded okay at points, but I couldn’t here the vocals too well. Singer Sheena said how thankful she is to be on the show with some awesome bands. Her vocals reminded me of Crissie of Element 101. The show toned down at this point, but it was lovely.

The Ergs! From New Brunswick, New Jersey were up next. They were a band I remember reading about on Jersey Beat, and whom Jim Testa and my friend said I would enjoy. Boy, were they right. The band had the crowd all over the place, dancing and having a ton of fun. There was even crowd surfing and someone pretty much climbed the ceiling, ha. Fun, fun passionate punk.

Bomb the Music Industry! played an overall great punk set, despite some problems. They came on unprepared and with broken equipment. They started rather out of sorts. It picked up and the music was fun, but everything was random and I got turned off from them. There were a bunch of hardcore fans that danced through the entire set and sang along, which was nice. BMTI make all its music free. You can find the download link on their MySpace page.

Check out these bands, they're great.
7/2 Lemuria with The Loved Ones @ Asbury Lanes in Asbury Park, NJ. $8
7/5 Cheeky with Screaming Females @ Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ. $8
8/17 Bomb the Music Industry! with Rancid @ Irving Plaza in NY, NY- SOLD OUT.
8/23 The Ergs (headline) with For Science @ Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ. $8