By Andrew Bansal
September 1st 2016, The Viper Room, West Hollywood CA: Since their ’93 inception, New York based independent label Tee Pee Records has been perpetrating the power of the riff with their predominantly rock n’ roll/stoner rock lineup of artists. Boasting of an impressive alumni list which includes the likes of High On Fire, Graveyard, Kadavar, The Shrine and Sleep, Tee Pee Records have been major supporters of riff-centric heavy music and have played an important role in reviving the genre to its newfound popularity. Currently housing great bands such as The Atomic Bitchwax, Carousel, Earthess and The Skull among many others, the label is continuing to march forward with clear intentions and purpose. But this summer, they put together a four-date US showcase run for four of their lesser-known bands. Dubbed the ‘Tee Pee West Coaster’, this lineup featured Lecherous Gaze, Death Alley, Hot Lunch and Mirror Queen, and visited Los Angeles for a gig at the Viper Room last Thursday September 1st. Booked and announced relatively late in the game, the showcase drew a decent crowd of LA’s riff worshippers and treated attendees to an interesting mix of bands.
Starting off proceedings at around 8:30 were NYC rock quartet Mirror Queen, and with their laid-back ’70s heavy rock, they eased attendees into the evening, turning out to be an ideal starting point for a show that would only keep rising in intensity. Led by vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Kenny Kreisor, Mirror Queen presented some sweet jams, and fans of anything and everything ’70s must check out the band’s 2015 full-length release ‘Scaffolds Of The Sky’. This East Coast band came as a good appetizer for what was otherwise a San Francisco Bay Area/European sandwich of stoner rock.
Next up, San Francisco heavy rock quartet Hot Lunch took the stage to bring forth a groovier sound. With a name like Hot Lunch you can never go wrong and you’ll always draw people’s attention, but it helps to have solid musicianship behind it, which these guys definitely do. With their classic vocals-guitar-bass-drums four-piece setup they played some bluesy hard rock straight out of the ’60s, gritty on the low end and melodic on the guitar front, singer Eric Shea wailing over it all and keeping the energy levels high while his band mates played what would be your ideal mid-tempo skate/surf/cruise/drive soundtrack. Having shared the stage on many an occasion with the likes of Fu Manchu, The Shrine and the headliners of this gig, Hot Lunch know their way around this circuit and certainly never disappoint.
The band with the biggest hype surrounding them in this particular lineup was Dutch proto-metal/proto-punk group Death Alley, featuring members of defunct occult rock bands In Solitude and The Devil’s Blood. Considering that there wasn’t even a facebook event page for this show, the advance promotion was close to zero and none of the bands are hugely popular, the turnout for the event was expectedly light, but whereas Mirror Queen and Hot Lunch played to small crowds, all of a sudden the Viper Room got decidedly more filled, as loyal fans of the aforementioned European occult bands flocked in to see members of those groups play in this new project. Death Alley released their debut album ‘Black Magick Boogieland’ in 2015 and performed tunes off of it in this set. They were more entertaining to watch than to listen to, as the singer danced and pranced all over the stage, to the extent that the music took a backseat. But when paid close attention to, the music came across as melodic and lively, and the crowd response would suggest that it’s significantly better than that of the other three bands which isn’t really the case, because it’s hard to say whether Death Alley would get anywhere near the same response if they had some no-name musicians instead. Nonetheless, they succeeded in creating a decent first impression and are undeniably a band to watch out for in the near future.
Sadly, the Death Alley crowd swiftly departed through the Viper Room’s exit door as soon as their new favorite band’s set was done, and it was up to headliners Lecherous Gaze to play in front of the surviving few. People in many other cities and countries would probably kill to get a chance to experience a band of Lecherous Gaze’s quality and calibre live, but the crowd here came to see a different band and left without even giving the true and worthy headliner of the event a chance, and that’s Los Angeles for you. Unfazed by this travesty, Lecherous Gaze began their ritual of sonic destruction. A psychedelic punk/stoner rock band that started out in 2010 but boasts of musicians that have been around in the hardcore punk scene since the turn of the century, Lecherous Gaze’s brand of heavy rock is exhibited on stage with outstanding degrees of humor and shock rock value, led by singer Zaryan Zaidi’s antics. Wearing shades with the rest of his face covered in white bandage and a fake nose sticking out of it, he went about his performance here, delivering Alice Cooper like vocals while chugging PBR tall cans. But musically, unlike the band before them, Lecherous Gaze didn’t have to try too hard to make an impact, and the songs just flowed out of them as if it were second nature. These dudes were absolutely in the zone, and could have played the entire set with their eyes closed. One of the more compelling live bands in this genre to have come through town in a long time, both visually and sonically, Lecherous Gaze equate to pure madness and deserve your respect and attention.
Overall, this Tee Pee Records showcase was filled to the brim with riffs and jams galore, and put a well-deserved spotlight on four noteworthy bands.
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