If you drew a Venn diagram of punk, noise rock, post punk and hardcore, Big Ups would reside in that sliver of overlap between them all (also, I would accuse you of having waaay too much time on your hands). The four piece out of NYC does incorporate the best elements of those genres into their driving, snarling brand of chaotic rock. Songs often start with a solid baseline with vocalist Joe Galarraga speak/singing over it before the other guitars join in and the whole outfit dives into a classic hardcore meltdown.
My (constantly ringing) ears hear a band that would have been right at home on SST Records in the late eighties or would have held their own with the D.C. hardcore bands that stayed with their classic sound as most of their peers were crossing over into more experimental post punk. Their new album Eighteen Hours of Static only clocks in at around half an hour, but it’s a memorable half hour, and in this era of media consumption, that’s saying something. Recommended for fans of: Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Moss Icon, The Monorchid, Roomrunner, Dischord Records, Touch and Go Records.
Catch Big Ups 11 o’clock Friday night, 3/7, at The Jinx. Check out the video for their song “Goes Black” from Eighteen Hours of Static.