Live Review from Underground 42:
instant hardcore punk, like putting one of those dinosaur capsules into water. no breaking into it, no slow songs to start, just instant gratifying full speed punk. if you’re totally ready for record speeds down the interstate highway, they’re just what the doctor of motor vehicles would prescribe. imagine green day, but double or triple the intensity, with just enough reggae/ska to make you order a pina colada with an extra shot. i don’t know how the drummer handles the near-ultrasonic speeds with such precision, but he does. if any band were to be a musical representative of adenosine triphosphate (google it), it would be these guys.
Amos
Live Review from Underground 33:
The room started to fill up with oversized t-shirts and this heralded the arrival of 218. They evidently have more gigging experience and after a brief “every man for himself” soundcheck, they launched into their first number. Even before they struck the first chord, the lead singers’ white specs had screamed ‘Punk!’, and sure enough they delivered on the promise. Also impressive was the lead singers’ ability to take not one, but two phone calls during the set. “Hi, I’m on stage right now. Can I call you back?”. Hong Kong stylee. Anyway, I digress. The set consisted of 6 quick-fire zippy punk anthems, in the style of early eighties British punk bands like the Buzzcocks. The lead singer also played bass, leaving the two guitars on either side to fill out the sound and bounce off one another. One of the guitarists bounced off the stage as well, but managed to bounce back on again without incident. The other guitarist’s guitar seemed to be struggling to get away from him, but he hung on and managed to get the better of it. As the set progressed the songs improved, and although some of the lyrics were a little too far back in the mix to be heard, the band had enough attitude to carry it off.
Zoot