Thursday, July 21st I found myself at Drkmttr collective located on Dickerson pike east of the Cumberland river. Drkmttr was founded by a group of DIY musicians. The small ALL AGES venue is now at the heart of the indie, punk and hardcore scene. There isn’t a big punk and hardcore scene in Nashville and Drkmttr is a hometown favorite. What I love about the venue is that it feels like a house show but everyone is invited as long as you get one of the limited tickets.

This time I was at Drkmttr to see a hardcore show. The first act to perform was Reference Supply which was a noise artist. Their “songs” sounded like a fax machine mixed with the sound of rubbing a balloon. I truly did not understand this performance at all, it was extremely loud and obnoxious. It was super harsh and hurt my ears, so I grabbed some earplugs from the counter. This act currently has no online presence, I wasn’t able to find them on social media or anything. If you don’t know what noise “music” is, it is an expressive use of noise, usually guitar pedals and other noise generating machines. It is a combination of inorganic sounds. In these “songs” no particular rhythm or pattern emerges and it is more like an art installation than anything reminiscent of music. The only thing I could compare the act to was Pulse Demon, this style of “music” is extremely niche but you might want to listen to it to drown out ALL of your thoughts.

The second act was Restraining Order, they were a more traditional punk rock band from the New England area. I would say they have metal influence, in the way the lead singer sings and the melodic bass lines. Their songs are high tempo and catchy, they have a feeling of urgency. It was a four piece band, the lead vocalist Pat Cozens had great energy the whole time. So did the rest of the band as well but he was able to jump around the stage more than the other performers who were holding instruments. Halfway through their set the guitarist broke a string and put a new one on in record time. If you like punk music, take a listen to their album “This World Is Too Much”.

The third act was Lust$ickPuppy, a “techno punk” artist. I would describe her music as a combination of electronic music, rap and a little bit of screamo. She is truly one of a kind, her style and her music is unlike anything I’ve seen before. She was actually wearing an outfit that had pictures of herself all over it. It’s hard not to pay attention or tune in to what she’s doing. All she had with her was her computer to back her up, with tracks that she created and produced. I thought her performance was awesome, she puts on this whole character when she’s singing. When I talked to her after the show she was calm and very sweet, kind of the opposite of her character on stage. If you’re looking for something new and wacky that you’ve never seen before you’ve got to check her out.

The last band to perform was Candy; a metal, hardcore, and punk band from Richmond, Virginia. They were a great band and people got really rowdy for these guys. I mean, people were flying into tables and getting punched in the face. Watch out kids! (Remember it’s an all ages venue so I mean this literally). Their lyrics had themes of anti-establishment and anti-government. I would say overall their look, their style and even their sound is influenced by the early 90’s. I really enjoyed this band, they totally rocked. This band is for contemporary hardcore fans but they’re not confined to the genre. 

Overall I loved checking out a show that is the opposite of what I normally listen to.