Loud Boyz headlines on Friday at Breakin’ Even Fest. (Photo by Franz Mahr)
Each time D.C. hardcore punk quintet Loud Boyz takes the stage, they intend to give concert-goers a solid half-hour blitzkrieg of good, fun mayhem.
“I like singing songs about having fun and partying,” said lead singer Brandon Brown. “Everybody’s pretty stressed in this city as it is, and it’s like, ‘Yo, wanna come to a fun rock show and not worry about everyday life?’ You have that little half-hour to have fun, chug a couple beers, do your thing, then you go back to that shit on Monday.”
This upcoming weekend, Loud Boyz will join Long Island melodic punk rockers Iron Chic as headliners for Adams Morgan’s Breakin’ Even Fest. The two-day festival will feature 13 bands in all, eight from the DMV area, over the course of Friday and Saturday at Songbyrd Music House and Record Café.
Loud Boyz, who headline Friday, have generated plenty of buzz in their two years together with a rapid-fire, party-happy sound. They have played at major venues around the city, and in July released their first full-length album, Tough Love, Hard Feelings with Arlington-based label Cricket Cemetery.
Saturday headliners Iron Chic have an upbeat, expressive sound featuring shout-along vocals and punchy choruses. The band has toured around the United States and internationally and has released two-full length albums and multiple splits and 7-inch records since they formed in 2008, weathering several lineup changes in the process. They signed in February with Los Angeles-based SideOneDummy Records and are working on a third full-length release.
“They have worked very hard to get where they are,” wrote Breakin’ Even co-organizer Steve Rovery in an email. “This may be the last time to see them in a club the size of Songbyrd—they may be at The Black Cat next time around.”
Despite their broad fanbase and growing popularity, Iron Chic’s members have retained a strong DIY ethic, handling much of their own production and artwork over the years. They have ceded some control recently—they got their first booking agent in 2015—but still keep their roots in mind, said frontman Jason Lubrano.
“We still like to play house shows or small shows if we can,” said Lubrano. “We know where we came from and we definitely don’t want to forget it, but, you know, things do get bigger and a little bit crazier as time goes on.”
Lubrano, along with guitarists Phil Douglas and Jesse Litwa, drummer Gordon Lafler and bassist Mike Bruno, all came up through Long Island’s punk scene. The suburban area has plenty of all-ages and house venues to support its own unique punk culture, Lubrano said.
Despite Iron Chic’s extensive touring, the band has only played once before in D.C., a small house show. “It’s been a long time coming for us to come back,” he said.
Brandon Brown actually traveled up from D.C. to New York to play his first show with Loud Boyz last year. Brown knew everyone—guitarists Alex Anderson and Rory Sheridan, bassist Mitchell West, drummer Devin Cassidy and lead singer Kenny Brown—at that point, and when Kenny couldn’t make it, they asked him to fill in. (Brandon replaced Kenny as lead singer in November). He already knew their music well, but says he appreciated Tough Love, Hard Feelings even more after listening to the album ad nauseum to make sure he had all the lyrics down.
“I didn’t actually know I was going to like it as much as I did,” he said. “I listened to it so much, I left like, ‘holy shit, guys, you made a killer record.’”
Loud Boyz are helping to lead what Brown and many others see as still thriving hardcore punk scene here in D.C. “There’s so many bands killing it right now…keeping this scene going, constantly making new music, booking shows, on tour, bringing that D.C. sound everywhere,” he said. “You can really go to one show in D.C. and listen to four different genres of punk and hardcore in the same night.”
That diversity of sound will be on full display at the inaugural festival this upcoming weekend. Co-organizers Steve Rovery and Bryan Flowers, both of Northern Virginia pop-punk group American Television, have been assembling the lineup for several months now.
“In addition to the NWODCH [New Wave of D.C. Hardcore] bands, there are some awesome melodic punk bands in the area right now too, and we booked a bunch of them,” wrote co-organizer Bryan Flowers.
Breakin’ Even Fest takes place on March 4 & 5 at Songbyrd Music House & Record Cafe. Tickets are available here. $12-$27.50.
