What: Punk Rock Prom featuring Embrace the Kill, The Carrots, D.J. St. Ann Where: Monstros Pizza When: 8 p.m. Friday
It's official: The government and military are getting together to screw the rest of the world.
The song "American Mili-industrial Complex," by Portland-based punk band Embrace The Kill, illustrates the band's feelings about the state of the country, and it doesn't care if people don't agree with it.
"If someone feels the same way, cool, but if they object, it's their choice," said bassist Jay Crash. "We're not going to get caught up in the endless maze of political correctness."
Embrace The Kill will bring its message to Monstros Pizza on Friday, performing at the Punk Rock Prom with The Carrots and DJ St. Ann.
Another important topic the band addresses in its music is abortion. Supporting a woman's right to choose helps with over-population and rapid breeding, Crash said.
"It makes me sick to see people hold signs on the road that say 'birth control is murder,'" he said.
Though they are politically aware, band members write songs about personal issues, too. The song "Scatterbrained" addresses thoughts of suicide, Crash said.
Embrace The Kill has a solid message, but members have been together for less than a year, Crash said. Despite this, they already have impressive punk rock credentials.
The band has played with punk giants Agent Orange, Union 13, Fleas and Lice, Subhumans, Leftover Crack and Citizen Fish, he said.
Dick Lucas of British punk band Subhumans sang on one of Embrace The Kill's tracks. "Polizia Controlla" will be on Embrace The Kill's upcoming 7-inch split album.
The song's lyrics reflect Embrace The Kill's political undertones.
"The violence is a reaction of the oppressed population," the lyrics read. "Exposing the errors of the dirty society."
The album also features Millions of Dead Cops, a punk band that helped to connect Embrace The Kill with the punk scene.
"I've got a lot of respect for MDC. They're given our band guidance in music and in life," Crash said.
Though Embrace The Kill is vetted in the punk scene, it's hard to categorize the band in a single genre, Crash said. When it first began playing, band members thought they were playing punk until someone brought it to attention that they were playing metal.
"We're too metal for the punk scene, and we're too punk for the metal scene," he said.
What Embrace The Kill calls its music tends to dictate the fans who react to the songs, Crash said. When band members announce they'll be playing a metal song, head bangers rush to the front regardless of whether the song is metal.
"It's really funny," Crash said. "Some guy at a show in Seattle put his fist in the air and yelled 'give me more.'"
Sometimes the metal, song-induced pits are so big, one can feel the wind coming off them, Crash said.
The crowds are funny, but the great thing about performing is the out-of-body experience of being onstage, he said.
Embrace The Kill hasn't graced many stages as a band yet, but members are excited for their first tour.
Guitarist Brandon "B-Rad" Cobb and his brother, drummer Jesse "The Drunken Onion" Cobb, will join Crash in a van they borrowed from fellow Portland band Ether Circus.
Jesse Cobb is known as "The Drunken Onion" because, simply put, he's always drunk and he smells, Crash said.
Cobb will fit right in with smelly Punk Rock Prom-goers. Sweat-causing activities such as dancing are scheduled for Friday night, said Sean Cummins, booker for the Chico Area Pyrate Punx.
Other activities such as Pin the Tail on the Donkey and face painting are planned, too, Cummins said.
The Punk Rock Prom is the first of its kind in Chico, but they're held all over the country, he said. They're a great alternative for people who don't want to do the whole "prom thing" and rent tuxedos.
Dressing up is encouraged but in less formal way than most proms mandate, Cummins said.
"If you want to come dressed up like a mime, go right ahead, but it's not required."
Rebecca Rosa can be reached at rrosa@theorion.com
Related links Embrace the Kill's MySpace page Monstros Pizza's MySpace page
Be the first to comment on this article!