Botchii ball

A white grease-board with the message, “Porch gutariest [sic] cut his hand bad! Our thoughts are with him!!” scrawled next to a crude illustration of a bloody hand was perched in the front window of Fulcrum Records last Friday. After owner René Stephens apologized for her spelling ability, she explained that Todd Huth, founding member of Primus and guitarist/vocalist for Porch, had indeed cut his hand, was undergoing surgery and would not play as scheduled that night.

The openers, local noisemakers Botchii and Agent Meecrob, remained to, well, make noise. Botchii vocalist/guitarist and wise-ass Tom Skowronski asked what I was doing sticking around and suggested that going down the street and getting a taco would be a better idea. But a reliable source said the duo, which includes drummer Mathew Graybiel, should be seen.

Agent Meecrob got things started with songs that played out like an old one-speed blender. But the performance was good fun. The trio played soon-to-be classics like “Method Man Rules” and “I Hate Robots” and even threw in a song about John Stamos. Bassist Kenny Kelly occasionally flapped his black cape, while guitarist Kevin Emmons and drummer Alex Coffin thrashed about on their respective instruments to the delight of the teenage audience.

Next, Botchii took the stage, er, floor and captivated the small crowd that sat attentively in front of them. Botchii takes its cue from experimental noisemakers like Big Black and Sonic Youth with the start/stop precision of Helmet. Skowronski slid his hand up and down the neck of his down-tuned guitar, alternating from garbled low-end rhythm to high, screeching bursts. Between songs, Skowronski gave audience members good-natured ribbings, including myself, asking why the News & Review hadn’t left to get a taco. The crowd must have been paying attention because when I finally did leave, a gentleman held out a brown paper bag and offered me his last taco, which I politely declined.