Pistol Grip
Live At The Glasshouse (Kung Fu Films)
By: Vinnie Apicella
The seventh installment in Kung Fu's "The Show Must Go Off" video series finds Pomona's Pistol Grip tearing it up for their hometown faithful. The ferocious fivesome from the BYO label gets the full five angle treatment compliments of Kung Fu films, a division of the better known Kung Fu record label which boasts a wide array of Punk Rock talent in its own right.Pistol Grip's only been around a few years but plays and presents themselves like seasoned veterans. Here, they give the listener an hour long eighteen track set list that includes plenty of good ol' fashioned street ready shout-outs that include the opening rouser, "P.O.W.," "Running From The Gun," "A Murder Of Crows," "Missionary" and a wealth of other pit-forming, pit-staining, melodic and mosh-ed up anthems that'd make the Guinness Boys on the other side of the drink proud. Besides the onrushing band members, fully exposed from every conceivable angle, the viewer gets the feeling of landing right in the middle of the onstage action from the shifty angles, close ups and fade outs, and crowd noise. The tunes are angry and catchy at once, as with the instantly memorable "Black Heart" from their "Another Round" release earlier in the year, which among the many, features stellar gang vox that'd make The Misfits' hair flaps stand on end, or "Broken Radio," part of which was clipped for the opening credits. "The Damned Of Tomorrow" rides a formulaic Hard Rock beat for the crowd to set themselves to before breaking into a thrashing fit that features their Mohawk-headed guitarist manning the mic while the got throngs of onlookers bob their heads and wave their hands, obviously unaffected by their apparent fate as suggested by the singers on stage.
Introduced later as a much "slower" song, PG tones down for "The Rebels Are Dead," coming off like a combination of The Outlaws and One Man Army, and for one of the few times we actually "see" the crowd where most of the time they're drowned in a sea of darkness, heard but generally not seen. The band closes the set with the short and stout closer, "Cruxcifixion Politix," which invites and incites the masses into a slamming frenzy before the band bows out in a brief burst of audio feedback.
The DVD features a number of extras including alternative angle options and bonus footage, as well after show exploits and band member feedback of their own performance, which while momentarily interesting, after ten minutes the inclination is to concur with the narrative vocalist, Stax, in not wanting to sit through the commentary anymore-- on wit da show! But there are some clever self-deprecating remarks in and around songs two and three and something about Hollywood's gut dangling behind the drum kit that are worth a few. Pistol Grip's one of the finer Street Punk groups to come on in a while and their live show's solid. Among the better fits for both BYO's more aggressive and Kung Fu's more melodic leanings, this latest in the "show" series, episode Seven, is definitely worth the price of admission!
