Despite Drive-Thru Records' best efforts, pop-punk is still a legitimate form of music. The current wave of pop-punk groups have taken their cues from the bands that took all their cues from the Ramones and are all the better for it. One of the best bands of this new wave are the Copyrights. These Carbondale punks have been making waves since their Red Scare debut, Make Noise. Touring in support of their newest release, Learn the Hard Way, the Copyrights stopped off in Indianapolis for a basement show with friends Shot Baker and a few noteworthy regional acts.
The show began with Ft. Wayne, IN act Flamingo Nosebleed providing classic pop-punk entertainment to the younger kids who had shown up early. Next up were the Dopamines from Cincinnati. The Dopamines are a fairly new band that has formed from the bloody bits of the Black Tie Bombers. Despite their status as only second of five bands that night, the Dopamines delivered a solid set of energetic pop-punk. The opening song "The Satisfaction of Physical Retraction from a Chemical Reaction Attraction" is just as silly as the title suggests but is about as solid as a pop-punk ditty can get. The rest of their set was every bit as fun as the opener. The next act, Team Stray delivered a solid set of, you guessed it, pop-punk, but it sadly lacked the infectious hooks of the Dopamines.
The crowd began to fill out as the "Orgcore" trolls left their computers and got drunk enough to drive to the show. The tide of scraggly beards and flannel shirts gave me hope for the "Orgcore" scene in Indianapolis. If these guys will leave the apartment for a boozy basement show, then perhaps they would come out to see, say, the Lawrence Arms (if they ever came back through).
The next act to perform was Shot Baker. SB pulled a sizable crowd and got the basement thumping with their slightly more aggressive melodic hardcore sound. They played tracks from their newest album Awake as well as from their Time to Panic EP. By the time they ended with their anthemic "Sorry Illinois," the crowd was good and drunk and ready for the Copyrights.
The Copyrights took the "stage" and immediately ripped through fan favorites and pulled tracks from their entire back catalogue. The wonderful "Cashiers" made it to the set list as well as "Weapons of Math Destruction" from Mutiny Pop. 40s were being sloshed everywhere as the crowd drunkenly danced to each song. The set hit a high point when the band exploded into "Planet Earth Nineteen-Ninety Four." With sentimental lyrics that aren't even remotely sappy, the Copyrights might be some of the best songwriters pop-punk has to offer. Despite the fact that their new album Learn the Wrong Way was due to come out in three days, the band only played a few new tracks. The killer "She Turns It Up" did not make it to the set, but the wicked "Shit's Fucked" made up for it.
The band brought their set to an end and joined the drunken hoard for a party that would last long into the night. It was a wonderful night for pop-punk and a great night for the music scene in Indianapolis. If The Halloween House keeps booking shows of this caliber, then the scene will only continue to grow. Here's to basement shows!