Garage punk kings, Bass Drum Of Death blow amps and stimulate swarms of moshers at tiny, basement venue, The Flapper.
It is finally starting to feel chilly in Birmingham, as if we have suddenly landed ourselves in Autumn, and gig season is finally here. Heading over to Birmingham’s beloved rock pub, The Flapper, we navigate our way through herds of Blink 182 fans, made up of generic band tees and elder emos. As we pass the riving Utilita Arena, we split off from Blink fans and start to feel as though we have reached our destination. Scruffy, Brummie punk fans congregate in the smoking area of The Flapper, we join them, and then, we wait for the doors to open; ready to cram ourselves into the tiny space and let havoc ensue.
Pretty soon after doors open, The Butters Aliens hop on stage and begin warming up the crowd. ‘Warming up the crowd’ is perhaps not the best way to describe The Butters Aliens entrance though, as the outfit plunge us in to the show headfirst. The Butters Aliens’ lead vocalist tears into the mic with a tremendous scream, teamed with shrieking, unpolished riffs blaring through amps. The Butters Aliens instantly hold their own on the stage, they were made for this show: grotty basement venue, a clan of misfit mates, they have the audience in the palm of their hand.
The Butters Aliens blasts relentlessly through the venue’s speakers, showcasing a variety of original released and unreleased tracks. The outfit takes notable influences from bands such as Fidlar and Idles- taking the fun, drug-tinged vibes of Fidlar and combining it with the biting, political bitterness of Idles.
Scattering original released tracks such as: ‘Greedy Puppets’, ‘Livin’ The Dream’ and ‘Hand Around’, with exciting unreleased songs including ‘Rat Trap’, The Butters Aliens keeps us on our toes and immersed entirely in the chaos and intense emotions that explode through each track. After the first few songs of their set, it becomes evident that The Butters Aliens make the whole crowd their mates- they seem to effortlessly draw in their audience and suddenly it feels like this crazed punk crowd has become family. Crowd and artist interaction is The Butters Aliens strong suit and boy do they know it. Now nearing the end of their set, we see members of their loyal cohort of fans stomping on and off the stage in an attempt to start a frenzy of crowd surfing and stage diving. Although this doesn’t completely come to be in the tiny basement space, the vibe and energy is certainly present, as we see fans and friends jumping on stage to mic share and then stumbling back into the mosh.
With the venue already jam-packed and heated up from The Butters Aliens, Bass Drum Of Death head on stage positioning themselves in front of a swelling crowd ready to be drowned in Mississippi garage punk sound. Whilst playing masterfully and introducing hit tracks, through the first few songs it is apparent that something is wrong, something is evidently holding the band back. The amp blows. ‘How about that, we just blew an amp’. A small break featuring the band playing improvised instrumentals, whilst techs and sound engineers tinker about on stage commences, and then before we know it, we are back on track.
Bass Drum Of Death makes up for lost time and storms into favourite tracks such as ‘Crawling After You’, ‘Find It’ and ‘Get Found’. In these tracks, Bass Drum Of Death thrives with their full personalities shining through as they revel in the upmost power of having the crowd in complete awe and infatuation. As sweaty bodies and entangled hair flies through the crowd there is a real sense of community and contentment washing over the room. As we near the end of their set, there is a growing feeling of euphoria crashing over fans, and after 3-song encore, clans of Brummie punks walk out of The Flapper with smiles on their faces and sweat running off their foreheads.
You can listen to popular releases by The Butters Aliens and Bass Drum Of Death below.
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