Live Review: Negative Reaction in Allston, 05.23.14
You would probably need a filing cabinet to keep track of the various players who’ve been in and out of Negative Reaction over the band’s 20-plus years. The lone mainstay is guitarist/vocalist Ken-E Bones, who to my experience is a singular figure in or out of music. He’s someone I’m glad to consider a personal friend, a former collaborator, and a player whose passion and dedication make many considered giants seem small by comparison. It had been a while since I last caught the band — SHoD XII in Connecticut, to be precise — so though I had family obligations to account for, I nonetheless popped into Allston to catch them at O’Brien’s sharing a bill with locals
The Lorde Humongous, Xatatax, Slow Mover and Automatic Death Pill. A very heavy evening, to be sure.
I happen to know Bones — who’s also embarked on a solo career over the last couple years playing outlaw country — is a Boston fan. A fan of the city, its hockey team, its people, and so on, so I expected he’d be in rare form and was pleased to find that was in fact the case. At one point in their set, he borrowed a Bruins hat from someone in front of the stage and wore it for a song, and the mood despite Negative Reaction‘s persistent downer sludge was light and positive. A good time, in other words. Since I last saw them, drummer Joe Wood (also Borgo Pass) departed and Dave Ash filled the role with what served as rarefied swing for someone whose roots seemed to be so firmly in metal. You wouldn’t know it because Negative Reaction‘s material is slower overall, but I’d be surprised if Ash wasn’t a Dave Lombardo fan, if not now then at some point in the past, but he carried the material over with personality 
that played well alongside Bones and bassist Jamie Jervis.
Jervis has been around for a while — at least since 2012 — and came in to replace Damon Limpy, who played on Negative Reaction‘s last full-length, 2011’s Frequencies from Montauk (review here). “Dopamine” from that record was a highlight, and demonstrated how well this trio played together, the chemistry set between Bones and Jervis and developing between the rhythm section of Jervis and Ash. The trio made short work of Negative Reaction mainstays like “Go Die” from 2008’s Tales from the Insomniac and “Sludge” from 2003’s Everything You Need for Galactic Battle Adventures, and while I’d been thinking maybe they’d have some new material to show off, Frequencies from Montauk opener “Day after Yesterday” and “Shattered Reflection” were welcome ways to spend their time and both “Sludge” and the lumbering riff of “Worthless Human,” which Bones announced as “another uplifting, feel-good song” or some such, got the crowd’s heads banging and fists pumping. Literally. I wouldn’t call O’Brien’s packed 
out or anything, but those who were there were up front and way into it. I’m pretty sure Bones could’ve kept that Bruins hat if he’d wanted.
Closing out was “Loathing” from 2006’s Under the Ancient Penalty, which the way I see it was the beginning point for a lot of Negative Reaction‘s direction on their two subsequent albums, introducing an interplay of cleaner vocals with Bones‘ trademark raspy scream and refining their focus from punked-up sludge abrasion to rolling-groove songwriting that’s not about to shy away from an unabashed hook. “Loathing” has one of the band’s best to-date, and after “Dopamine” — a spiritual successor and a song that makes sense as a subsequent development of similar ideas — and “Shattered Reflection,” it makes sense as a way to round out what had been a riotous and fun set. I’ve seen Bones jump through more than one drumkit in my time, but he was kinder to Ash‘s gear than that, though the noisy finish of “Loathing” did come with a bit of rolling around, guitar-meets-cranium bashing and feedback enough to fill the entirety
of Boston’s quota for the evening, let alone that of the other bands on the bill.
Negative Reaction have been an underrated band for a long time. Part of that has to be their constant lineup shifts, but this latest incarnation of the three-piece reminded me of what’s always been most on their side, and that’s the unabashed passion of Bones and the absolute catharsis at the heart of their deep-toned sludgy grooves. I expect they’ll continue to be a well-kept secret — sludge for sludgers — but for a band that has existed for the better part of 24 years to come across as having potential says something about the continued vitality at work. Fingers crossed for new stuff soon.
A few more pics after the jump. Thanks for reading.
Negative Reaction
Cool…thank you for that HP! Here is my review of the other bands there:
The Lorde Humungous: Made up of Joey from Forn, Eric from Truman Highway, and some cool ass dude named Bernie…these guys should not have been opening in my opinion. It being their first show, they did an excellent job of warming everybody up and seemed quite comfortable running through their stoner rock laden set. Bernie sung his first song (as he put it…ever) in front of a live audience and you would never know. Eric had some gnarly-esque old school C.O.C. type vocals himself and absolutely knew his way around a guitar and when…more importantly when not…to wield it. I’ll be booking some stuff with these dudes for sure. Only negative I would give them is when Joey goes to sing from behind the kit…make sure the sound guy knows when to turn up his mic cause we couldn’t hear a damn thing. In fact, half the song went by and I finally noticed he had a mic in front of him that he seemed to be mouthing words into. I only noticed halfway through though because that song had some serious chug. Also…play MORE SONGS!!! Excellent work gentleman, we look forward to working with you again.
I had to dip out for a second and wipe the sweat from my eyes, get the sludge out of my ears and recoup. It was at this point that I caught my band mate and homeboy, the infamous Nate Linehan of AxCx fame, outside talking to Bones from Negative Reaction. Apparently they knew each other from back in the day and were just getting caught up on the happenings of each others musical/personal lives…who knew, small world. All in all, all the dudes from Negative Reaction were cool motherfuckers and I definitely enjoyed their set for sure…I only share this information because well, it was kind of interesting to learn that AxCx and Negative Reaction had shared the stage a few times a million years ago. If you don’t find it interesting…well fine then.
Slow Mover: I had heard of these guys but never heard them, ya know. Definitely not what I was expecting…more walls of sound and intricacies than their name really reflects. I was thinking…holy shit, we’re about to get plowed over Eyehategod style but it was a little more rock oriented and less sludge. Not a bad thing, mind you, just not what I was expecting. I definitely purchased their album the next day and dug what they had going on. They have a lot of different styles going on…but again. I swear I stood there for almost the entirety of their set yet I only got like maybe 20 mins of slay. What gives? Loved your set…just wanted more heft (read: gain) and a longer set. If that’s a bad thing, well then, there you go…I guess I’m a jerk.
Outside again…I knew what I was in for. XATATAX is one of those bands that have been around for a bit, been on some sick bills, but I feel like I don’t hear about them enough for what they actually deliver. I guess maybe I’m a little jaded as being in a band in Boston, I keep seeing the same 10 band names on ALL THE BILLS forever and ever amen. I won’t name those names but you’ve seen them…I’ve seen them. They aren’t bad but really…EVERY BILL? Le sigh…
XATATAX: These guys rule. If you don’t think they do…well fuck off. And they are fucking KIDS (to me, I’m 35)….double fuck off. Every member does what they are supposed to…stands and fucks you up. Their songs sling from thrash to sludge to stoner and back again. Multiple vocalists means more weight in the punch your face department. Hells yeah. I don’t have the song names but I do remember when they called out Audrey Hepburnvictim and then banging my mother-effin head to it. We are playing with them in their homeland of Worcester with Jucifer next month and I couldn’t be happier about that. I was bummed when they had to drop off our last bill with them at O’Brien’s due to drummer issues but I have to say that Jeff from SET does a solid job putting their songs to their pace and that’s not an easy thing to do when your band refuses to have a genre. Nice work, dudes! And again…PLAY LONGER!!! FUCK! hahaha.
You’ve already read about Negative Reaction up there so I won’t be redundant. They were awesome, buy their shit. Buy all of these bands shit…and go to their shows. Seriously. Stop fucking around and go. If you like heavy music that isn’t always 5 thousand miles per hour, you will enjoy this shit. And maybe you’ll even get laid.
I’m not reviewing my own band so suck it. We ruled. If someone else wants to put a review of our first set as a 2 piece that would be cool…and you’re cool right? I thought you were cool, but whatever. We’re gonna keep going because fuck you. Love Forever, your friend in Satan….1/2 of ADP…now with more HepaTagua.