Scotchka, Pink Lady, Cheesy Snacks, Happy Birthday James
No Fun, 3.7.25
Just around a year ago, the Albany NY scene was different. In fact, one of the traits of our unusual scene is how diverse it can be. Depending on what corner you involve yourself with, you could say that, oh, "Albany is mainly an indie-rock/pop collective, just look at WCDB's influence. (local college radio station)" Then another guy would come along and say, "No, no, no... Albany is a hardcore city. Just look at its history!"
It's important to note that WCDB was once IMMENSELY influential in the scene. Mainly in the 1990s and 2000s (arguably college radio's peak), we had acts like Fugazi headlining shows for them and Title Fight playing in the Campus Center booked by WCDB in 2009. The station began to have a core shift towards indie-rock/pop in the 2010s and it has since been the focus, with shows mainly headlining acts that I suppose fall into the vague boundaries of "indie-rock"
However, Albany itself, in the past couple of years (and I mean starting in like 2023), has had a strong turn towards a hardcore scene, similar to its heydays in the 90s. Bands like Spiritkiller, Celebrate Prize, Casket, Flatwounds, Bad Impressions, harken back to the old era, where bands like One King Down, Section 8, and Dying Breed were what defined Albany music. This recent boom in hardcore has caused a shift in WCDB's direction towards what to promote and what part of the scene to truly showcase.
One year ago on this date, I covered WCDB's 5th annual Battle of the Bands. At that time, I was a major part of WCDB, but never mentioned it here as it would kind of reveal my identity. I largely don't care anymore so I suppose I can release that bit info. The show at the time was mostly rock/pop acts with CPS and Everybody That Loves You being slight exceptions due to them being kinda leaning towards a harder sound. The four bands performing at that show were, to me, a representation of what the scene had to offer, and to be honest, it kind of sucked. I thought ETLY and CPS were really really solid bands, but have now come to see them as slightly saturated in the grand scheme of things... Repeating setlists, nothing new, and overall a sound that was reminiscint of what Albany's rock side once was in the 2010s/early 2020s.
In the year that's since passed, I've gravitated towards what the hardcore scene had to offer, as, to be honest, I've always been more of a fan of hardcore stuff, and that going to hardcore shows, something new is always brought to the table. I can safely say that out of the twenty-or-so hardcore shows I've been to, only one was kind-of ass (never posted about it here). I've been to much more lackluster indie shows, but not to make myself feel bad, always pretended that I liked them. Indie crowds are snarky mid 20 - 30 year olds that often act like "you gotta be in the know to know, you know?" While the hardcore crowds were a good blend of newbies and oldheads who often encouraged and loved new faces to the scene, and probably due to the fact that I've met much cooler and nicer people within the hardcore scene.
It's March 7, 2025, and it's now WCDB's 6th annual Battle of the Bands. At this point, I am now no longer a part of the station, which meant I can have a much different a better perspective on the bands playing. Also, now that I have more time on my hands, I decided to bring my Canon EOS ElanIIe SLR with my 420EX speedlite and ST-E2 speedlite receiver if I wanted to get any interesting and cool lighting setups, as well as having my 5D mark I resting on my shoulder in case I want to get any impromptu digital shots. Lol. I love being a insane nerd, having all this gear over my neck totally wasn't a terrible idea for four hours.
If I had to describe them, they would definitely fall into a bracket of late-to-the-scene emo. Good emo, just kinda a slightly older sound. Not a bad thing, honestly still a positive one. Again, I think giving them a second chance would be worth it, but they don't seem to be actively touring.
Both of those beanie-guys were moving around the stage insanely, keeping up with their energetic "surfer-rock". Lol. I would describe them teetering more towards a definite hardcore/energetic/kinda surf-rocky style, but couldn't describe. They passed around plastic fruits filled with those maraca seeds and them and a bunch of people started shaking them to their songs. This is one of those unfortunate moments where a performance is good but largely forgettable.
Cheesy Snacks is up next, and they're pretty much just a mish-mash of musicians from other bands. Respectfully didn't care for them, didn't even bother making any enlargements from their performance (lol). If you're from Albany, they sound exactly like how you expect when I tell you its a mish-mash of said musicians from 2010s-era indie-rock Albany bands.
HBD James is a fairly new local band building itself on the new hardcore scene. Considerably an emo band, though. Most of the members are fairly young which makes them really popular with the emo college kids (which would mostly be my friends, haha). The songs they played, while hardcore, had somber vocals to them, undertones of late 90s emo, and a wall of sound. Just after their second song, they brought a local clown up to the stage, who started making balloon animals and blowing bubbles while they were performing. She gave each of the band members unique balloon hats. I think that was very sweet and enjoyable.
Even with them winning the Battle of the Bands, I think they are a great representation of the current movement in the scene. An exciting movement. Gone are the days are of those indie-rock bands trying to dictate the scene, and a new change in younger voices to be heard.
After the show, my friends and I all went to Denny's for a late night celebration for our friend James, who happened to have his birthday that exact day. Prophetic.
