Here’s an idea for your Saturday: stop by the Metropolitan Museum for PUNK: From Chaos to Couture, to take in how the punks from around 1977 dressed, then go see a band that can trace its lineage back to those fashionable nihilists that hung out on The Bowery and Kings Road.
It would be wrong if we didn’t mention Mudhoney playing at the Music Hall of Williamsburg first on this list. It’s impossible not to give these guys their due, simply because they’ve stayed good since the 1980s, and even though people call them the “Godfathers of Grunge,” they still slay live. Most important to note is that their newest album, Vanishing Point, has a song called “Douchebags on Parade.” You should show up and pay respect for that reason alone.
If older dudes singing “Touch Me I’m Sick” isn’t your thing, Sleepies are playing Death By Audio, and even though they’re local, you can’t go wrong with their brand of “Fugazi if Fugazi were from Seattle in the 1980s.” Grungy, poppy, and 100% awesome.
Lastly there’s The Orwells playing Shea Stadium. These Chicago teenagers are about as close to a Midwestern Black Lips as you’re going to get (sans peeing on the audience and all that fun stuff Black Lips are known for).