{"id":423,"date":"2023-11-01T13:08:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-01T17:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arouseosu.wordpress.com\/?p=423"},"modified":"2025-02-05T13:58:04","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T18:58:04","slug":"john-with-tunic-and-big-fat-head-the-basement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/arouseosu.com\/home\/index.php\/2023\/11\/01\/john-with-tunic-and-big-fat-head-the-basement\/","title":{"rendered":"JOHN with Tunic and Big Fat Head @ The Basement"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Words & Pictures by Jack Foley \/\/ 10\/21\/23<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My relationship with punk rock is rather new. I first started listening to bands like Suicidal Tendencies and Bikini Kill in high school, venturing off into subgenres on Bandcamp and Soundcloud soon thereafter. Eventually, my studies led me to Ohio, where I began spending many of my weekends at house shows in cramped basements and backyards that would
inevitably be shut down by displeased landlords. My first encounter with JOHN was purely by chance. While at work, I opened my Spotify discover weekly playlist to see if there was anything worth listening to. Lately, the picks were rather lackluster, and the fact I was listening at all was
a miracle. As I sat at my lab bench running experiments, I heard the powerful punk deep cut \u201cBalfron\u201d off JOHN\u2019s 2017 album Godspeed In the National Limit<\/em> grace my ears. I had to take my gloves off and wash my hands thoroughly to see what I was listening to. Immediately I saved
the song and added the entirety of the album into my listening queue. Out of curiosity, I scrolled down through their page, and saw a tour date for Columbus in October, which was four months away at this point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHN are a punk duo based out of London, England, whose heavy riffs,
unwavering rhythm, and gravelly vocals have caught my attention. As someone who is a huge fan of other UK post-punk acts such as IDLES, Black Midi, Dry Cleaning, Palma Violets, and Heavy Lungs, my introduction to JOHN was only a matter of time. Tonight was, surprisingly, my first time in The Basement, a venue that I have been meaning to attend for quite some time. Big Fat Head took the stage first, donning suits and
sunglasses. Their set was a great introduction to the evening, serving shoegaze and intense rhythm. Their sound takes from art rock, psychedelia, and garage punk, forming an amalgamation of noise sure to keep your eyes fixed on the stage. If this were a show in an actual basement, surely there would be bodies in the air, a collective of twenty-somethings pushing each other around, and a faint hint of smoke. Big Fat Head has enormous potential, and I personally look forward to their future efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Prior to this evening, I admittedly have not listened to Tunic\u2013I wanted to experience their sound for the first time live, without any bias. All I knew was that they were Canadian and probably punk-adjacent. The noise-punk trio\u2019s ripping bass riffs, punk beats, and power vocals make headbanging feel like second nature. They are certainly hardcore adjacent and have gained a new fan. Tunic\u2019s latest 2023 release Wrong Dream<\/em> is a hidden gem of a record, and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone into genres ranging from hardcore to emo, and pure punk rock. Notable tracks include \u201cProtected,\u201d \u201cMy Body, My Blood,\u201d and \u201cWhispering,\u201d which is my personal favorite off the record, starting with an almost emo-adjacent feel, but quickly oscillating between bass drum kicks and fast-paced punk rhythm. Tunic has found their own unique niche spanning multiple genres and are certainly worth the listen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After chatting about touring, the pain of crossing into the US from Canada, the UK music scene, and a round of portraits, Tunic took over the merch stand and JOHN went to the stage. Immediately a wall of feedback, cymbal and kick rolls envelopes the room, and the crowd moves to the front. They fill the room with a wall of sound, which, as a duo, is prolific. One could easily be convinced there was a five-piece on stage with their eyes closed. JOHN\u2019s ability to fill the sound spectrum is a feat in and of itself. Between running around to take photos from both
sides of the stage, I take a moment to stand back and truly listen during \u201cService Stationed\u201d and take everything in; the lyrics are impeccable, and headbanging is a must. Their new album, A Life Diagrammatic<\/em>, has zero skips; every song blends effortlessly into the next. I highly recommend anyone who listens to music of any genre take a listen; you will not be
disappointed. Notable songs off the record include \u201cA Submersible,\u201d \u201cService Stationed,\u201d and my personal favorite, \u201cAt Peacehaven,\u201d the opening track. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for JOHN, and I will certainly be first in line for their next US tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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SETLIST:
At Peacehaven
C\u00f4te d\u2019Azur
A Submersible
Theme New Bond Junior
Hopper On The Dial
Service Stationed
A Whole House
Trauma Mosaic
Riddley Scott Walker
Squad Vowels
Future Thinker<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Words & Pictures by Jack Foley \/\/ 10\/21\/23 My relationship with punk rock is rather new. I first started listening to bands like Suicidal Tendencies and Bikini Kill in high school, venturing off into subgenres on Bandcamp and Soundcloud soon thereafter. Eventually, my studies led me to Ohio, where I began spending many of my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/arouseosu.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/arouseosu.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/arouseosu.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/arouseosu.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/arouseosu.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/arouseosu.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1592,"href":"http:\/\/arouseosu.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423\/revisions\/1592"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/arouseosu.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/arouseosu.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/arouseosu.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/arouseosu.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}