Call them a new band. Call them a bunch of dudes. Call their band name a play on Vonnegut’s satirical novel. But DO NOT call Slaughterhouse Jive unenergetic or quiet. The first song (Grinderman’s No Pussy Blues) rocketed off Tim’s lead guitar like the strings themselves were Angry Birds getting flung at those damn green pigs. The next song – The Hives’ Tick Tick Boom – was even more energetic, but now the attention turns to lead singer Doug. Wearing a leather jacket, a plaid button-down, a low hanging belt, and faded jeans with a fist-sized hole, it’s safe to say he looks the part. At their first performance at Rocky Mountain Tavern, Doug says he wore “these ridiculous tight plaid pants”. Hey, if you’re going to be a rock star, you’ve gotta dress like one.

Slaughterhouse Jive covers 60′s and 70′s punk like they have something to prove. Guitar / trumpet / kazoo player Kenny puts it simply: “we don’t entirely focus on that genre, as overall we are just 5 guys that want to rock hard.” And rock hard they do. Seriously. They makes Metallica sound like a frikkin’ lullaby and Ozzy look positively calm by comparison. The genre might be punk, but it’s the spirit of doing good music that keeps them from getting stuck in a description. Genre definitions seem to break down once the knob gets stuck at 11 – and no song in their set is exactly quiet.

What surprised the hell out of this writer is how calm and composed they were off-stage. The look is sure larger-than-life, but after sitting at Dos Tacos over some burritos and tacos (and of course a couple of beers), you’d conclude they’re a normal-enough set of guys. Normal, of course, is relative here in Korea – we’re all a little weird in our own ways. “The personalities you see onstage probably represent some repressed inner id that only gets to come out and play at our gigs,” Kenny said. While outfits on the rest of the band aren’t as outlandish, there’s plenty of energy being pumped into their instruments – and plenty of attention is deserved on that skill.

Still being a new band, the set list is far from set. Tim on lead guitar is the newest member, with mere weeks under his belt, though Mark and Kenny both played in Shotgun Mascara. Having recently taken DGBD’s respected stage and rocked it at last month’s HBC Fest, the next step is to get to work on some original music. It’ll be along the same lines, they said, with Doug doing some work on the lyrics. Getting together, however, means some serious subway time – Kenny and Daniel live up in Paju, Tim is west of Seoul near Bupyeong, and Doug hails from east of Seoul, in Namyangju.

Being a cover band sometimes means people expect to hear songs everyone knows, but in this case, there’s a clear turn towards the obscure. Hearing Elvis Costello’s “Pump it up” is about as recognizable as you’ll get for right now. “[We're] playing for us and our tastes as opposed to a bunch of crowd favorites,” Kenny said. As for the obscure numbers, “we don’t stray too far from originals, but we’ll play them faster and louder than the studio version,” Kenny responded.

When asked about their last trip to the noraebang, Doug confessed to enjoying some classic Bruce Springsteen; none of the others wanted to say anything on the record. While I personally can’t see these guys throwing out some Springsteen after The Stooges’ ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ or MC5’s ‘Kick Out the Jams’.

Whether you happen to know the original songs or just appreciate the rock’n'roll spirit, there’s plenty to love. They’ll be taking on the Seoul circuit – “until we get our originals into line” – if you think you can handle them, look them up on Facebook for the latest on their shows. Bring your earplugs with you if you still want your hearing on Monday.

 

Author’s note: a version of this article is published in the June 2011 issue of the Groove Magazine.

© Chris Backe – 2011
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