I am publicly declaring my love for Vicious Cycles…

The Media Club was in all its glory last night, with a full crowd moshing to the Vicious Cycles. Five biker dudes from East Van and Delta in lumberjack shirts, ripped denim and sweet hair cuts. I felt like I’d walked into the legendary Washington hardcore venue from the late 1980’s, The 9:30 Club: a sweet punk rock scene. The band set up their equipment in minutes, and were thrashing around on stage ready to go not long after. Man, the energy on that stage was unreal. They began by gathering around the drum kit, backs to the audience, singing a capella – a solid move, chanting something along the lines of “I wanna rock and roll”, for lack of a better word, it was rad. Throw in a  few power chords and the guys were jumping around, wild with energy! 

Utilizing the punk paradigm of the three chord, high speed attack, made standard by US bands like The Ramones and eventually UK bands like the Sex Pistols, Vicious Cycles had a strong frenetic and aggressive sound. The drummer made the show, producing a super tight, powerhouse sound. Rewind back to October 1987, flip to the Wanted section of Seattle music paper The Rocket and find Nirvana’s ad: “SERIOUS DRUMMER WANTED. Underground attitude, Black Flag, the Melvins, Zeppelin, Scratch Acid, Ethel Merman. Versatile as heck.” Someone get this ad to the drummer of the Vicious Cycles. These guys definitely delivered the rock last night, fedex-ed it even, and on top of that, they were ridiculously nice guys… falling right in line with that classic DIY ethic that makes the punk rock scene so much fun. Their sound resonated with me in an anthemic way – it’s hard not to love these guys, and it’s clear that if they want to, they’ll be huge. These guys were the musical equivalent of shredding some gnarly pow in the bowl. (Whistler reference, duh)

They list their Influences as...

Davie Allan, The Hondells, Raised By Wolves, Von Zippers, Girl Trouble, Howlin' Wolf, Biker B-Movies, Cycletoons, rat bikes, Traynor amps, rusty junk ... 

If you liked Vicious Cycles…

Check them out! … I also suggest checking out another band Broadway Calls. They’ve got an album out called Good Views, Bad News. It’s a sweet combination of punk rock and powerpop, and well worth your time. And if you’re really stoked on that, check out the Cobra Skulls, with harder punk sound, who played in Warped Tour this year. 

Check back:  sweet black and white photos to come… (if my film turns out)