A myriad of punk and post-hardcore bands became host to easily one of the most packed shows Bremen Cafe has ever had. Friday night was the long-awaited “Disposable” EP release from Garden Home, who were accompanied by Burmecia, American Bandit, and Snag on the bill. Attendees largely stayed put in the crowd all night; walking away would have meant an instantly lost spot.

Burmecia is an indie progressive rock band consisting of vocalist/guitarist Conrad Weiser, guitarist Scott Parker, bassist Mike Holloway, and drummer Liam Welsh. Their name comes from a town in the Final Fantasy video games where it never stops raining.

The band embarked on a year-long hiatus from playing shows until they performed at Landmark Lanes recently on April 20th. They are now back with an EP release part of their own at Sabbatic on June 1st.

“We recorded it at our house; it’s called “Placeholder” and has six songs,” Weiser said. “A lot of the songs are about self-realization and not putting yourself up to a certain standard. The name is like how we imagine where we want to be and it’s not exactly what we need right now.”

American Bandit is a post-hardcore outfit known for their aggressive and unapologetic deliveries. Originally known as Audacity, the band consists of vocalist Nick Heath, guitarist Luke Steffens, bassist Alec Swartz, and drummer Ryan Roberts. Friday had been their first time performing at Bremen.

“I definitely prefer playing on the floor face-to-face than up on stage,” Heath said.

The band dropped their EP “Losers’ Club” last summer, which was recorded in Roberts’ home-built basement studio.

“We are trying to get more of a groove to our music. I want our songs to pass a solid head-bang test…like if I could bang my head the whole time. I think we’re probably on the right track. Our song structures are definitely growing too,” Heath said about Losers’ Club.

Heath has a reputation for climbing on just about anything he can hold onto as he sings. During Friday’s set he jumped on top Roberts’ drum kit and scaled the wall of amps. He recalls a time he seriously injured himself.

“We were playing this pavilion outside a bar and I jumped onto the fence ready to hold myself, and they lined it with razor blades to keep the birds off…I just grabbed it with my hand and I still have scars on my fingers. I had a mini-panic attack and slapped Band-Aids on it and then we played our set and it was fine…but it was brutal.”

Heath has a confrontational approach to his lyrics, which is reflected in his stage animation.

“I feel like I’m just dealing with whatever it is in the moment and then we get to the studio and we just work out the lyrics as we’re pumping through it…like “how am I feeling today.” I might not fully mean it big picture but in the moment this is how I’m feeling, this is what I’m saying, let’s put it down on paper.”

American Bandit is playing the Rebel Stage at Summerfest on opening day and is touring with Armon Hassan in July.

Garden Home is a post-hardcore quartet originally known as Hodari. The band is made up of vocalist/guitarist Dylan Mazurkiewicz, guitarist Mike Holloway (also in Burmecia), bassist Mitch Pratt, and drummer John Doyle. Their debut EP “Disposable” came out May 3rd.

“I write a lot about frustrating relationships. We recorded with Ryan Roberts from Lakefront Studios and American Bandit; he did a fantastic job and was very patient with all of us,” Mazurkiewicz said. “The theme art was taken at a New Year’s party I had and then we had those developed and had our friend look sad with them.”

“This has been the one thing that was like once it’s out, we can move on to new stuff,” Holloway said. “It was kind of an obstacle almost.”

Friday had only been the band’s fourth show as Garden Home; they took time re-branding from Hodari and writing new material with Mazurkiewicz added on guitar. They are planning a four-song Valentine’s Day EP consisting of cover songs for next February.

Snag is a punk trio consisting of guitarist Sammy Pinback, bassist Peter Murphy, and drummer Bryan Wysocki. All three members exchange vocals. The heavily political nature of their music is reflected in their leftist song titles such as “Capitalism Is A Pyramid Scheme,” “Hydraulic Fracking Makes the Earth Shudder,” and “Who Are Those Condos for Anyway?”.

Their self-titled debut came out in 2017 and they dropped a single, “Violence,” last June. They previously collaborated on a split EP with experimental rock band Social Caterpillar as well another with New Zealand band Swallows Nest.

“I thought people were gonna take off after Garden Home but everyone stayed all night,” Pinback said happily.

They have a new nine-song album recorded titled “Raccoon.”

“We recorded with Kevin Dixon of Humdrum Studios which is right on Center Street. We recorded on a two-inch tape and we’re getting mixes back but we don’t have a timeline for release yet but we’re hoping it’s out by the end of summer,” Murphy said.

“A lot of what we’re trying to do is make people aware of environmentalism and the dangers of capitalism,” Pinback said.

“We live in an interesting moment right now where people are much more willing to check their bullshit and learn and grow instead of getting defensive. People are a lot more willing to change their behavior for the better and we need to do that as a civilization because we’ve been doing fucked up shit,” Murphy added.

Snag plays Locust Street Fest this June.

Share this post:

Related