Angel Du$t Storms Beat Kitchen Tomorrow Night
By Casey Moffitt in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 9, 2015 5:00PM
Photo credit Joseph Huba
Fans of old-school hardcore might want to head over to Beat Kitchen, of all places, Saturday night and check out the set from Baltimore's Angel Du$t.
Angel Du$t's latest release, A.D., has all the trappings of classic New York hardcore from the '80s and early '90s. The songs are loud, aggressive and punchy. The riffs are repetitive and forceful, topping off brutal drum beats accompanied by plenty of straight edge lyrics. And of course, you know that cut-time bridge is coming in before too long.
All the songs on the LP are short and to-the-point. The longest clocks in at 2:18. In total, the 12-song album takes just about a 15-minute listen from the first note to the last.
But there's also a lot that separates Angel Du$t from the archetypical hardcore bands. Angel Du$t frontman Justice Tripp exercises a nice sense of melody in these songs. Sure he can scream as well as the rest on tracks like "Poison" and "Stepping Stone." But given the chance, he creates some cool—even catchy—melodies on songs like "Big One."
The songwriting is also a bit more expansive than you'll find in a lot of hardcore bands. They're not scared to come up with a riff that will stick in your head instead of simply pummeling it. Angel Du$t taken a cue from early punk rock bands in the sense that they will incorporate pop elements into their music, while keeping it rough and raw.
And they also have at least a little sense of humor; they have a 21-second track called "A.D.D." on the album.
Plus, the album sounds good. One of the most difficult things about getting into hardcore records is trying to overcome the terrible recording quality on so many of those albums. But A.D. sounds great.
Angel Du$t is a sort of supergroup of the Baltimore hardcore scene, as it features members of Trapped Under Ice, Turnstile, Mindset and Diamond Youth. If these names ring any bells for you, then you deserve a gold star for knowing your Baltimore hardcore bands.
So polish your old combat boots and dig out your favorite suspenders to check out Angel Du$t tomorrow night! It's a wild, raucous band that's worth the attention.
Angel Du$t performs with Cruel Hand and The Beautiful One Saturday, Jan. 10, at Beat Kitchen, 2100 W. Belmont Ave., 7:30 p.m., $12, 17+