Cable Ties and Latreenagers proved that punk rock really is a shining light of hope when they played The Tote
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Cable Ties and Latreenagers proved that punk rock really is a shining light of hope when they played The Tote

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Cable Ties finished tonight with their eight-minute punk opus, Say What You Mean.  It’s a tirade against the obfuscation of contemporary discourse, bolted down by Nick Brown and Shauna Boyle’s pummelling rhythm section. Jenny McKechnie punctuated her caustic verbal commentary with shards of punk rock guitar. Ouch. Somewhere in the distance there was an angry, old, white man shouting at a cloud. Compassion and empathy are bad for the economy; what the world needs are platitudes of corporate growth and incoherent xenophobic musings.  Fuck that noise here in The Tote, the crowd was mesmerised, entranced, hypnotised.  Cut Me Down, the best song Sleater Kinney never wrote; You Can’t Hold My Hand, Bikini Kill laced with Hüsker Du, Fish Bowl, Savages in the punk panopticon.  

Earlier in the evening I’d caught four songs by Latreenagers upstairs.  A polyester-rayon leisure suit, imitation leather slip-on shoes and plentiful tattoos.  Stuart Wagstaff (Google him) playing New York Dolls on the beach.  Seen ‘em before, loved ‘em then, would see ‘em again.  There were plenty of other bands playing.  They were all good, even if I didn’t get to see them.  Why?  Because punk rock is a shining light of hope in a world cruelled by self-interest and ignorance.  It’s our only hope.  And Cable Ties is the beacon of that hope.

 

Highlight: Acknowledgement of Indigenous dispossession at start of set.

Lowlight: The end of the night.

Crowd Favourite: Same for Me.