Origami vinyl is this very intimate record store (and record label, no less!) on Sunset boulevard in Echo Park, which hosts live performances in its mezzanine, and yesterday there were a series of these during the afternoon. Origami had teamed up with the club next door, the Echoplex, for Waved Out 2 an all-afternoon event, and I was just able to catch the last performance at the store, Gestapo Khazi. I went there with no real idea of what to expect, yes I had checked out their myspace very fast, and with a name like this, I was ready for some loud-aggressive-kick-ass-ear-damaging stuff.
The quartet from Long Beach has actually a lot of stage presence, even though the stage at the Origami is way above our heads (and it may have been the reason why John “Holy” Roller, the singer, was kneeling all the time), and if you can call them hardcore with their loud and angry sound, there is something more than just that.
And what about their intriguing name? There is a song by the 80’s London-based punk rock band, The Blood, which has the same title, and seeing the picture posted on Gestapo Khazi’s myspace mimicking another one of the English band, it seems obvious this is a sure connection.
If The Blood’s music was a blend of hardcore punk and heavy metal among other things, Gestapo Khazi’s music seems to be also well blended, crossing the genres with even some surf guitars. I heard a lot of these surfing riffs buried, but still audible, into this loud and aggressive sound.
Thanks to Stark Raving Erik’s guitar, I would say some of the songs sounded even rockabilly at times, the vocals staying always in the hardcore range, aggressively screamed, although, paradoxically, I could not hear much of Roller’s voice, way too buried in the noise of the other instruments. But at this point, vocals are more there for the attitude than for the meaning.
The songs are short, the rhythms more or less fast with Third Reich Meich’s restless drums and Gestapo Grazi’s bass, and Roller’s moves fast and violent, kneeling down punk-style, faking some aching position on the floor.
So if they put a little of beach in their hardcore, is it supposed to be retro?