I saw a fearless kid at the Drain show last week. Couldn’t have been more than 17, the curliest mop of hair, wearing a shark onesie. This dude was climbing up the speakers, hanging from the massive pole stage right, before jumping off into the crowd. Directly in front of me, on the speaker-pole combo stage left, was a guy in nothing but a bathing suit, a tube floatie, and water wings, flying directly onto my face. Another guy in a full snorkeling setup almost gave me a black eye. It was such chaos, but oh my god was it fun.
Drain are part of a new class of punk/hardcore groups out of the west coast, among contemporaries Scowl and Zulu; I saw both groups open for Show Me the Body at BK Steel a few months back, and I’ll tell you, that scene is up to snuff. The focus of this article though is Santa Cruz collective Drain, just over a month after releasing their sophomore album Living Proof, who brought an uncompromising lineup of heavy hitters to their show at Brooklyn Monarch last week. I was too eager to dive into the pit this time around, so I didn’t bring my camera. No pictures unfortunately, so you’ll have to trust my words alone on this one.
Drain have been cutting their teeth in the hardcore sphere since 2014, when singer Sammy Ciaramitaro, the so-called “golden retriever of hardcore,” met guitarist Cody Chavez and drummer Tim Flegal in college. The trio are capable of writing catchy, aggressive, and undeniably fun hardcore tracks, combining equal parts old school rawness with a new school mentality. Living Proof fits that narrative perfectly, from their Ed Roth-inspired album art and even gaining Post Malone as a new fan on this recent tour. If Posty is out here wildin’ out at their Salt Lake show, how could I pass up the opportunity to catch them live?
The stage was set and the lineup was stacked: aside from Drain themselves, the lineup consisted of mostly east coast groups, ranging from the scrappy fast-paced implosion of GEL (who just put out their latest LP Only Constant in March) and the head-rattling crunch of Combust, to the straight-edge hardcore homage of Magnitude, and the psycho fuzzed-out punk ravings of Drug Church (spoiler alert: they fucking ruled live, go see them if you can please!!!!).
A blisteringly fast, intense, and epic selection of punk ferocity lit up the full house at the Monarch, with a notable moment being the INSANE pile up at the stage during the climax of Magnitude’s set. Drug Church was the penultimate act, and as noted above, their specific brand of post-punky insanity was truly the crown jewel of the night. Frontman Patrick Kindlon was throat-shreddingly maniacal, wide-eyed, and ferocious, while the band behind him ripped through an eclectic selection of back-catalog tracks, including new single “Myopic” and a wide range of songs from last year’s full-length Hygiene. Before launching into the signature track “Weed Pin,” Kindlon paid a necessary homage to the toast of the evening:
“Shout out to Drain for making a night like this possible. They could have played a bigger venue, sold more tickets, but the promoters said there’d have to be barricades. Drain said to them, ‘Fuck you, we’ll take the paycut, we want the show to be fun.’ So let’s make this show fucking fun!!!”
Drug Church wrapped up, and without even realizing it, the house was suddenly filled with inflatable beach balls and boogie boards. And before I knew it, Drain played their 30-minute set, and half the audience was on stage. Wowza.
Let’s rewind. As the band took the stage, Sammy led the audience in his usual opening chant:
“NEW YORK! We are Drain from Santa Cruz, California, and I have just one question: CAN YOU FEEL. THE FUCKING. PRESSURE?????”
The guitar started chugging, and before I knew it, I went from the first row to the back of the house before the vocals even came in. I did my homework prior to the show, and knew no matter how many new tracks were out, they were going to start with “Feel the Pressure,” the opening track to Drain’s 2020 album California Cursed and a song that has somewhat become their calling card. A thru-line in almost all of their music is this innate us vs. them feeling, whether that be major labels, people outside of the scene, or those in the scene that take things way too seriously. Drain has a strong message through their music, going against the grain and doing your own thing, but more than anything else, they want to have fun. Their bio on Epitaph starts with a great quote from Sammy: “Straight up, no one is having more fun than me when we’re up there!” At their shows, I can now fully confirm that feeling is palpable.
Their set propelled forward, with the next few tracks being the singles from Living Proof. First was lead single, “Watch You Burn,” which brought the house into an undeniable maelstrom, followed by “FTS (KYS),” a track with a devilishly jagged guitar lead and a masterful lyrical approach. The breakdown halfway through the track makes it, and the instantly memorable closing refrain (“Find the strength and kill your self, reinvent the new you!”) is so candy-coated and easy to growl along with. For all of his laughter and smiles, Sammy is an undeniably captivating frontman because his anger is so relatable and the way he emotes through his songwriting is amazing. And of course, there’s a ton of “hooks” in all of these songs. Take the following track “Evil Finds Light,” with that amazing “just bottle it, bottle it UP, I can’t let my feelings show!” Just so awesome.
They introduced “Good Good Things” as “the only song they didn’t write.” A punk staple by fellow Californians and legends Descendents, the Santa Cruz boys imbue it with a modern sense of hardcore. An updated mix with an emphasis on the chugging breathes new life into the standard, and that vibe translates effortlessly into the live setting.
At the halfway point, Drain started playing some Living Proof deep cuts, as well as some fan favorites from California Cursed. The pummeling of “Weight of the World” and “Hell’s Itch” (god damn, that bass) went along perfectly with the rapid-fire knockout of “Sick One” and “Army of One;” again, that catchy hookiness has always been on display. “Can you walk the walk? Talk is cheap!” Bars.
The Santa Cruz boys closed the show with the title track double-header: “Living Proof” into set-closer “California Cursed.” Sammy was quick to encourage the house: “This stage is yours, this mic is yours, get up here!” and the crowd listened. Like I said, I saw the entire house on stage during those last two tracks. People climbed on the speakers. People stage dove. Shirts came off. Walls of death were built and quickly demolished. It was magical. Did I get a concussion? Perhaps, but it was worth it!
- Aaron
