Moshing at Alchemy Records

By Adrienne Bast

Local Music Journalist

Alchemy Records, one of the staple shops in downtown San Marcos for all physical music lovers, hosted a concert last Friday. Shelves containing crates of records, usually displayed in the middle of the store, were pushed back to make way for the pit. It [the concert] was a fun-filled night of moshing and jamming out to local hardcore punk bands Mallories, Mental Warfare, Kromathaw and Asbestosis. 

The first performance was by Mallories, starting the night strong with sludge vocals and fast-paced beats. The Austin-based band is relatively new to the scene, making their debut last year. Their music is not available on any music streaming platforms which gives you even more reasons to go to live shows. The Instagram page of the band is @mallories.band, which posts upcoming shows to keep fans in the know.

More people started to arrive as the next band, Mental Warfare, took the stage. Mental Warfare brought the energy to the venue as the lead singer called everyone to join the mosh pit. I made the mistake of listening – finding myself a few minutes later on the floor after I lost my balance. I am not one made for moshing. However, I still had a great time. Mental Warfare brought some groove into their hardcore punk music as they performed their second song. Everyone was headbanging to the rhythm and the angry vocals. If you want to enjoy a night of friendly violence and great jams Mental Warfare will be performing on March 2 with some other fantastic bands, including Needle Freak and Throat P*ss at Rio Market in Austin. I’ll be there and not on the ground this time, hopefully.

Speaking of energy, Kromathaw was up next bringing even more of a crowd in from outside with their stage presence and lively music. Even when they were still warming up the crowd was getting restless, moshing to sound check. The highlight of the night came when lead singer Rowan Latta got everyone to get into pairs and start ballroom dancing to hardcore punk music. Seeing the same people go from punching each other to holding hands as they waltz was a great experience. As the band finished, the drummer came back to join the crowd in the pit. I heard that Kromathaw is playing another free show on March 15 at the Tunnels in Austin, but in case I am wrong, you should follow @kromathaw on Instagram for all their show updates and watch out for their first song release coming soon.

Ending the night with a bang was Asbestosis from Georgetown. They brought to the stage a performance of exactly what I pictured old-school punk shows were like. The band looked the part with the lead singer’s leather jacket littered with punk band pins and a dyed buzzed cut along with the guitarist’s, Che Guevara’s, Misfits T-shirt. Their music seemed to take a bit of inspiration from earlier punk bands, specifically Dead Kennedys and Misfits. Asbestosis is the only band that I was able to find on Spotify. They released an EP at the beginning of this year called …It’s Alive!. My favorite in the release was “Zero-One-Four,” an instrumental song with a sick bass line to start the album off. If you love punk music, check out Asbestosis on social media to get information on future shows. You can find them @asbestosis_band.