No. Anger. Control

No Anger Control has got to be one of my favorite punk rock bands in Charlotte right now.

 

 

 Raw, real music. They came about as an effort to reboot When it Hits (another favorite).

 

 

Formed as a three piece with original music, meaning...separate from When it Hits. They played together a few times and decided to audition a vocalist only member. So Tiff, who was formerly in the Bamf's, auditioned and then tore up the stage at her first show.

 

 Has anyone noticed No Anger Control is veritably a punk rock super group?

 

 

One of my favorite things about talking to these guys was their sense of humor. They, despite their name, almost never stopped laughing. They have a particularly funny story about a show they played at the Money. Or whatever it's called now. It was a Christmas show and the venue had set up a laser light show and smoke machines. They said to turn that shit off when they played. Tiff stood on the speakers and heckled the crowd. Levi, after explaining that it was the "Punk Rock Christmas Party" and they were the only punk rock band, decided to turn it all the way up.

 

He jumps and lands right in front of the drums. And rolls his ankle. The joke here isn't that he hurt his ankle. It's the quip that was made that he now has no ankle control...and has to wear high tops while playing.

 

 

 They're pumping out recordings. They have koozies. Tall boy koozies. I see them everywhere and they haven't sold one yet.

 

 

They're working on a tour, maybe. So, my outside of Charlotte friends, keep an eye for these guys at your local venues. Or even better, hit 'em up on Facebook and get them to your favorite club.

You can listen to them here. 

There's more photos of them on my photography page.



All Rise, y'all

Way back in the days of Myspace a band called All Rise got together. You've probably seen them. If you're a punk in Charlotte, NC. Or if you frequent dive bars and pizza places between here and Hollywood. If you know them you're familiar with their particular form of debauchery.

 

I was lucky enough to have them sit and tell some of their funnier stories. Specifically to share with you. Brace yourself, these dudes know how to tell a story.

 

 Their first show was at the Milestone with the Toasters. But they all met on eHArmony. Wait...I mean MySpace. That's how Tyler met Richie, anyway. They found Dan on Craigslist. When he started with the band he was going to practice after school. Talk about extracarricular activities.

He's got a few stories he wasn't too happy to share, but I'm glad they did. It seems on their first tour he got banned from driving, still. For falling asleep...or passing out. Head against the window, rumble strips activated. Asleep. Oddly enough, he was chosen to drive because he could see clearly. At least when he covered one eye...

Choosing, one night, to sleep on top of the van rather than in a tiny apartment with a tranny and a bunch a dudes (and some wandering cats), he was mistaken for a dead body by some tenants. Seems he fell off the van and half under it. A neighbor called tho police and they woke him by kicking his shoulder, guess they didn't want to touch the body.

There's some pretty good stuff about a tranny door guy in Texas, a bathroom in Wisconsin and a bottle of Xanax, but I hear his mom wasn't a fan of that the last time it ended up on the internet.


"I got to drive out of Manhattan on shrooms."

 Richie was in a southern rock band when he joined All Rise. His 1st impression of Tyler was seeing him in front of the practice space in camo shorts and crocs.

He swims in fountains. The best part of this story, which took place at a patio bar in New Orleans, was that he first asked one of the bartenders if he would be thrown out if he jumped in the fountain. After being told "Oh honey, definitely." He began to strip and jumped in.

After spending what I'll assume is the entire day drinking, this is New Orleans we're talking about, they went to a bar called the Dungeon. Maybe you've been there, maybe you have stories. If so, I'd be interested to hear them. Sounds like quite a place.

But I digress. At the Dungeon Dan drinks from a pint of whiskey he bought with the last bit of money he had and Richie took a nap in a room similar to a jail cell. Only to be woken up by a bartender, because that room is not for sleeping.


"It was dumpster pizza..."

Tyler hails from New Orleans. He knows pretty much everything about it. So he knew that penniless and hungry, they could get a pizza from any place that sells by the slice. With Dan missing and Richie passed out (this time in the van not the room at a bar that folks use to...*ahem...bone) Tyler went on a heroic journey to find their missing bass player and put food in tummies. Turns out these pizza places will put out uneaten pizza in cardboard boxes for the homeless. Remember that if you're ever hungry and broke in NOLA.

 

 

If you see them around you should buy them a PBR and talk to them. They're super friendly, funny, and open. Like all the punks in this town. They had stories from every stop along their tour. They almost gave up at the second stop because they didn't have the scratch. Lacking funds and merch is a hard start to a tour, but it sounds to me like they made the best of it. 

 

 

In Texas one of them got a blow J from a tranny. In Madison, Wisconsin they crashed a guys house. Filled his toilet with vom and pinched a bottle of pills in someones asscheeks. They got video of several guys peeing on a girl, her idea. In Hollywood they bought an entire case of King Cobra. They set Dan's toes on fire and spray painted DSC on his crotch. In pink.

 

 In vegas one of the guys on tour with them got head from an elderly lady. Cleanest head in Vegas? In New York Tyler Side swiped a semi truck. There's even something in there about a blow torch.

 You can hear them here or here. See them in person at the Milestone (with a video debut!) or opening for the Casualties at Tremont.
You can see more pictures from this interview here and more of my photos here.