It was a chill setting and people trickled in slowly at The Echo this past Tuesday for Castro’s headlining performance. Unfortunately, there was a small crowd in attendance which is such a shame because it was a really stellar night of good music featuring Castro out of Los Angeles and Potty Mouth from Massachusetts. If you love punk rock and a post punk/new waves sounds, you missed out.
Castro headlined the evening, going on at about 11om, and unfortunately the few people that had trickled in also trickled out. There were about 35 people in the crowd, yes I counted, and each one of them seemed to really enjoy Castro, including myself. There were a few people dancing like it was 1985 which was kinda awesome.
The band consists of Vincent Venturella on guitar and vocals, Jack Guimon on guitar and vocals, Eric Hehr on bass and Brendan McCusker on Drums. Venturella’s voice kind of of reminded me somewhat of Ian McCulloch of Echo and the Bunnymen. If you like the new wave and post punk genres, Castro are definitely worth checking out. Be sure to give their music a listen on soundcloud. Their song “Why Don’t You Find Out” is pretty addictive. I hope that the next time they play they have some merch, I would have definitely bought an EP maybe even a t-shirt.
To start the evening off was Potty Mouth out of Northhampton, Massachusetts. This is the second time Grimy Goods has covered the band, but my first seeing them live. These talented ladies also had an 80s vibe with sounds reminding me of Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth. The members of the band were Abby Weems on vocals and rhythm guitar, Ally Einbinder on bass, Kiana Saroce on lead guitar, and Victoria Mandanas on drums.
Weems was very excited to be put on the bill at the last minute and happy to be in Los Angeles, she said that she actually got a sun burn today and she was happy about it. “Massachusetts, is covered in ice” she said. Definitely a band worth checking out. Again, merch would have been nice because I would have bought something!!! That is saying a lot from me because I rarely buy merch, I hit a lot of shows you know. Check a couple of their songs here, you can also listen to their full length album Hell Bent along with their EP on Spotify.
Anyway, Castro and Potty Mouth, look into them! They are a lot of fun.
Words & Photography: Wes Marsala
Photos: Potty Mouth, Perfect Pussy and The Bots shred The Echo!
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