A sweaty torrent of softcore nudity, flying bodily fluid and slightly dicked microphones fucked with the idea of a comfort zone at Yah Yahs on Saturday night. This was the majesty of Totally Unicorn and Batpiss’ double header at Yah Yahs – blurring the line between music and snuff porn.
A good show is much like an orange. First you have the skin, then the sweet, sweet innards. The proverbial skin for the night were The Pinheads, offering a brazen but lacking performance before the show got to the sweet bits. Although their raucous crowd antics might have made them a well matched opener for the other bands on the bill, the crowd reaction was tame and the music itself was fairly non-descript rock’n’roll, making them stick out like a shit in a urinal. It sounded like they’d all woken out of comas induced in 1996 and decided to make a band that would have been ‘just ok’ for back then.
Batpiss’ set was very much on point, and they seemed to shake some life into the venue from the first beat of the kick drum. From that point onwards they proceeded to rip out one of the fastest sets they’ve ever played. Sure, the crowd they played to wasn’t the most active (at least at the beginning), but any band who’s willing to tear the fuck out of their instruments regardless is worthy of respect. Guitar strings were broken before the first song was even finished, resulting in a hasty guitar swap with the old one recklessly kicked off stage. From that point on, they delivered a set as greasy as motor oil and heavy as the pungent chunks of disgust you could only find in old milk – the exact kind of filth you want from this kind of music.
Totally Unicorn – Holy shit. Nobody could have prepared for the kind of set that they were bringing to town. A shirtless army of guitar armed men stood towering on stage, save the vocalist who was clad in a tiny tuxedo onesie that didn’t fit him. From the first belting of chaotic noise riff work, the vocalist was sprawled over the pool table in the corner of the room and howling black murder into the microphone. Half the set was a cat and mouse game between him and the audience – people were busy trying to find him as he ran (now naked save for a pair of rainbow underpants) across every fucking inch of the venue, stealing sunglasses, grinding on dudes, cracking onto audience members, announcing his chafes and throwing the microphone down his jocks, all to a violent hardcore soundtrack. After a whirlwind of ‘what the fuck’ chaos, he returned to the stage at the end of the set, stole one of the drummer’s hat stands and started bashing the mic into the symbol. By far the craziest show of the year.
BY BRANDON HILLS
LOVED: Totally Unicorn. Fucking see them.
HATED: Way more piss than there was bats. No unicorns around either.
DRANK: MB. Mr Beer.
