Them Bones

Friday night's Trolling Bones Revue at The NorVa -- which featured a bunch of reunited punk and new wave bands -- was a mind-expanding evening of musical time travel. Since I didn't arrive in Hampton Roads until the mid-1990s, this event was fascinating to me. It gave me a chance to catch a glimpse of a music scene that was apparently pretty healthy in the 1979 to 1985 era.
I'd like to post something with more detail later, but here are a few impressions about three of the bands I saw:


Thermal Heat -- Funny that my evening started with this angry reggae band. While I'm not sure the exact time line of the bands that played the Trolling Bones Revue, earlier research on the punk and new wave scene in Norfolk led me to The Tropix, a band that blended progressive rock, reggae and the punkish sounds of Patti Smith and early Talking Heads. Thermal Heat took a similar approach, but with a more confrontational attitude. At the NorVa, the band featured guitarist and singer Bink Brown, who also played in two other bands on this particular night, Basic Riffs and Jerry Skids.



Jerry Skids -- Not to be confused with the hardcore band from Boston, this quartet (originally named Jerry's Kids) was the loudest, snottiest, most pissed off band of the evening (although I missed the night-topping set by Left Wing Fascists.) Tunes like "Fucked-Up Ford" and "All I Want's a Harley" were shot, sharp, punch rock songs -- tough and intentionally obnoxious. This was not hardcore punk, however. This is what came before it. In their day, I'm sure Jerry Skids were a refreshingly abrasive alternative to bands trying to sound like Molly Hatchet.




Tango Storm -- This band, which featured singer Bruce Gray, wasn't trying to annoy anyone. But the group was definitely inspired by the Ramones and Elvis Costello. They covered E.C.'s "No Action" and the Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated." The band's guitarist (now an executive with Fender guitars) played clean, hard, melodic lines. This was definitely not Johnny Thunders territory. It was something much more refined. But still enjoyable. And Gray is a natural front man who still sounded credible singing originals including "No Rock on the Radio" and "Blow Job."