Can't Stop The Bleeding

Protomartyr (by Sandy Carson)

Can't Stop The Bleeding

With the right band at the right time, Beerland's the greatest place on Earth, a shotgun bunker for all things punk. At Can't Stop the Bleeding, a loose 12XU showcase expertly curated by resident Matador Records co-founder Gerard Cosloy, that honor fell to Unholy Two. The Columbus, Ohio, quartet rekindled the Scientists' feral blues and the torrid lo-fi appeal of the Gories, only with three guitars and a powerhouse drummer bashing out broken jazz beats. The band operated only in the red, doling out feedback and fury in equal measure with corrosive closer "Cut the Music (I'm a Nightstalker)." TV Ghost cut a similar vein, but pulled from the seedier realms of psych: the threatening pulse of Suicide and the Doors' heathen charisma. The Indiana outfit left plenty of room for singer/guitarist Tim Gick – physically and sonically – as he writhed around the stage in some botched exorcism. Protomartyr's frontman looked like Ron Swanson, with a Lone Star instead of whiskey, but the band delivered raucous, observational post-punk ("You're a Creep"), while Austin's Spray Paint similarly steamrolled through deadpan narratives over a din of guitars and a wicked big beat. Earlier on the outside patio, Buck Biloxi & the Fucks, midway through its curbside garage-rock, summed up the afternoon perfectly. "I don't play for free. I play for free beer."