Incendiary and Comeback Kid

Comeback Kid is one of those essential hardcore punk bands that circulated throughout the scene over the last twelve years both in North America and in Europe.

Seeing them several times in typical hardcore punk venues, local firehouses, bar and billiard joints, community halls, and the likes, I can confirm Comeback Kid puts on one of the most energetic, positive shows there are in the hardcore punk world, and they do so all over the world year after year with new material.

I first saw them with Down To Nothing and other east coast hardcore bands touring through Richmond, Virginia at the time. Their Turn It Around album had come out a few months prior and the word of mouth spread about their awesome breakdowns, noble gang vocals, and overall totally moshable sound.

The place was small, hot, and packed, people were hanging off of speakers, crowd surfing, circling pitting, and much more. The majority of people were straight edge and under thirty, but like every punk show there's the exceptions. Overall it was a great time, my friends and I moshed our feet off, one buddy sprained his arm trying to land a stage dive, but we kept going because the show was that terrific. Comeback Kid doesn't tour as often as they use to, so catch them while you can!

I admit that when I first heard of Set Your Goals, I was bored by their generic blend of hardcore and pop-punk. I had been listening to a lot of Lifetime, Saves the Day, the Tossers, and A Day To Remember and couldn't help but feel like Set Your Goals was nothing more than a dull cover band from my second home, the San Francisco Bay Area. I decided to forget about them, and was successful, until I saw them play a show with Comeback Kid.

While I can't say that I immediately fell in love, two songs, namely Echoes and This Song is Definitely NOT About a girl did manage to stick with me and earned spots in my ipod.

What was the show like? The pros: it was energetic and got the pop-punk crowd clapping over their heads, moshing so enthusiastically I began to thank every god I've ever heard of that I have health insurance, and scream-singing along to admittedly catchy hooks; Jordan Brown and Matt Wilson showed off impressively strong vocals. The cons: while the shot of vodka I'd enjoyed made the show even more fun-filled, the performance was not particularly original or memorable. I would attend another show, but I wouldn't be willing to cough up very much money for it.

Following lead singer Vinnie Caruana’s previous band, The Movielife, splitting, I am the Avalanche filled a massive gap in the gruff-pop-punk sort’ve genre. Since the release of latest record “Wolverines” the band are still growing at an exponential rate.
Their live show manages the raw intensity on their records. Towing a line between melodically heavy and catchy, huge singalongs are present for each track - especially those from the universally loved record “Avalanche United”. As Caruana jumps around the stage - and often, the crowd itself, the energy in the room is paramount, backed up by particularly strong guitar work. The crowd is moving and flowing, screaming their lungs out with smiles plastered on. The smiles are partly down to the funny banter provided in song breaks. Tracks like “Brooklyn Dodgers” and “Green Eyes” get gigantic reactions. Those kind of anthemic songs garner massive singalongs everywhere from basement venues to arenas supporting bands as big as Brand New. I Am the Avalanche are definitely crowd pleasers. Setlists are divided between all three of the band’s records nicely, allowing some older fan-favourites to be aired. I Am the Avalanche are a band whose performances are always heartfelt. You can tell that they love it; and so does the crowd.