Do not miss this show. This is where punk rock gets righteous again, while still stirring your blood with the crazy beats. Full of new ideas, Sunday's young healthy crowd was a convincing brick in the surface of a long, long new road. Arwen Curry Dawn of a New Era Junk Sick Dawn is still going strong after more lineup shuffles than Menudo. After last Wednesday's sterling performance, I highly recommend Junk Sick Dawn pursue a career in excavating because they tore Palookaville down brick by brick.
Overwhelming tension builds throughout each song and miraculously oozes into a sublime catharsis.
I'd like to say you can detect subtle traces of the Pixies in its arsenal, with its wicked control of dynamics and phrasing, but that's selling Junk Sick Dawn way too short. Junk Sick Dawn was tight and loud and refused to give up its top spot as Santa Cruz's finest purveyor of distorted beauty. Lackadaisy performed competent, alternative Cure-like tunes that made me crave caffeine in a real bad, not friendly, way. Too many of their songs used pointless digital effects that were downright annoying. Not all the songs worked, but when they did, they worked overtime.