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Alright, so it’s another Thursday night at Bar 32, four hardcore bands, one from out of state, one local big shot and a couple of younger local bands, all for $10. Thankfully these gigs have started happening again, put on by some guy named P-Gal and one of the bar managers affectionately known as Beard Face.

Carcass Brains; stoner riffs by stoner dudes and a guy shouting Cannibal Corpse style lyrics. These guys have played two gigs previous to this and really are pretty good considering they are barely out of high school and playing in what is probably their first band. There is a bunch of new hardcore bands popping up in Canberra, and these guys, along with Observer, seem to be the local favourites.

Yoko Oh No is everyone’s favourite mid 90’s influenced punks from Bungendore, fronted by everyone’s favourite propagandhi shirt wearing bartender Aaron (I hear he posts on BGO). The Oh No’s are the only non hardcore band tonight, playing older style punk interspersed with a healthy amount of mid 90’s punk covers. Including a rendition of Fox by Millencolin, with Robert Phillips of Slowburn fame doing the vocals. This was easily the most fun song of the set, as RP didn’t hold back with the punk jumps and couldn’t stop smiling the entire time.

I Exist only started as a band at the beginning of this year and have already released a demo CD, a 7” EP, and are recording an album before the years end, they’ve also managed to build up a respectable fan base across Australia, playing shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. In short they are ‘Eyehategod’ as a hardcore band, blues riffs combined with d-beats and a hatred of religion. The guys are a resilient lot, four days prior vocalist Jake had a nail go straight through his foot while trying to tear down a house, and bassist Sam broke his elbow skateboarding to said house. Most bands would have pulled out, but I Exist soldiered on, performing as a three piece. Guitarist Crowbaron successfully managed to make up for the lack of a bassist, by playing through two guitar cabs as well as one bass amp, HEAVY, to say the least.

Mary Jane Kelly the out of towners for the night, finished off the gig, coming from Wollongong the guys are no strangers to Canberra, playing here multiple times a year. MJK is a more melodic band than the rest on the bill, not to say they are one those ‘emo’ bands everyone talks about. They play fast and singer Justin yells with clarity while also doing a bit of clean singing, but don’t worry they sound nothing like Atreyu. Their set was a little short, playing most of the song off their EP Our streets turn white, currently in the midst of recording their new album, they gave us two new songs, which are probably the heaviest things they’ve ever written. There’s a lot of love for this band in Canberra and it translates to a good energetic vibe amongst the crowd at their gigs. Don’t miss the guys when they return in January on the Boys of Summer Tour.

The next Thursday gig at Bar happens on the 12th of November with Dead Kings, The Abandonment, Lorax and Avidyan.

CHECK OUT THE FL GALLERY HERE!