Jack Terricloth (W/IFS) is coming!

[In a meager attempt to start writing for City Paper again, I whipped out this show preview for Music Editor Pat "PaRappa the" Rapa. The show's already sold out, so, uh... anybody got a ticket?]

When not asking crowds to “Circle that ‘A’, motherfucker” with his main squeeze The World/Inferno Friendship Society, frontman and former Sticks and Stones guitarist Jack Terricloth likes to get intimate with a few friends. In this case, 50 of them, as that’s how many tickets R5 Productions are selling for this seated show. Expect punk songs, cabaret humor and maybe even some spoken word in the vein of Terricloth’s novellas from The Collected Cloth.

Fri., Feb. 13, 8 p.m., $8-$10, The First Unitarian Church’s Chapel, 2125 Chestnut St., 1-866-468-7619, philauu.org.

X live at the TLA

I want to be John Doe. As a drummer, I’d like to have the skills of D.J. Bonebrake, the classically trained percussionist of legendary California punk act X, but it’s vocalist/bassist Doe that has the most swagger and charm. He plucks away at his bass maniacally on stage; he’s smooth on the mic and he’s aged pretty well. A poet who continues to write and record to this day (his latest solo effort, A Year in the Wilderness, was released last year), he also owns a shirt that reads, simply, "John Fuckin’ Doe."

The band behind classic albums like Los Angeles and Wild Gift is currently on its "13 X 31" tour, honoring the group’s 31st anniversary. A May 22 performance at the TLA with fellow punk/rockabilly enthusiasts The Detroit Cobras confirmed that this odd-numbered celebration wasn’t unjustified — 21 years after its formation, X is still a top live act.

The Detroit Cobras were a perfect complement to X, and the crowd certainly agreed. While there wasn’t too much dancing in the TLA — minus a smattering of enthusiastically ungainly adults — there was plenty of hooting and hollering after every Cobras song. Frontwoman Rachel Nagy’s voice is a good selling point — soulful but ever-so-slightly cracked. The band’s sunny, boozy 50-minute cover set included fine cuts from the rock canon, something the slightly older crowd appreciated.

It’s cool to see the punk lifers in X. Frontwoman Exene Cervenka still rocks a black granny dress. Like Doe, she’s still artistically active, with a slew of art collages ranging from postcard collections to a NYC gallery show, running through July 18, entitled "Sleep in Spite of Thunder." Billy Zoom looks almost exactly as he did in ‘ 77 — lightly older, of course, but he’s still got the slicked-back blonde coif, the leather jacket and the wolfish grin. As for Bonebrake … he’s bald now, but he dominates the kit fiercely and pounds cans of Guinness awfully well.

An incredibly full rendition of "Your Phone’s Off the Hook, But You’re Not," the first song off X’s debut, marked the beginning of the band’s set, which ended up leaning toward the group’s first two efforts, though a few mid-period tunes like "The New World," "Devil Doll" and "We’re Having Much More Fun" from worked their way in. Tunes like "Adult Books," "We’re Desperate" and "The Hungry Wolf" sound superior live. It was the Los Angeles material, though, that got the biggest response — the band pretty much played that album in its entirety.

X often posed for photos while performing. Doe engaged the crowd in conversations about voting, drinking and urban decay. Bonebrake, when he could get away from his kit, was quick with handshakes. Zoom made it a point to have every woman in the room touch his guitar. The instrument’s phallic nature has never been so clear, nor so traumatizing, to me. After playing for an hour, X returned for two encores, busting out a few more favorites before bowing out. Doe and Cervenka trimmed down vocal parts here and there to save energy, but that didn’t bother the crowd.

It’s funny — in 1983, X released "I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts," a song about being the last active punk act in the U.S. The Ramones and The Clash disbanded long ago; even X’s ’80s hardcore peers have burned out. But in 2008, X is still touring, enticing crowds to "bring the flag."

Smoke or Fire/Fake Problems live at Siren Records

[Here's some old shite - two concert reviews for City Paper.]

Love means never having to say you’re sorry for dragging your significant other to a punk rock show on Valentine’s Day.

Smoke or Fire and Fake Problems, with support from The Menzingers, The Steinways and Stay Sharp, played Siren Records in Doylestown, Pa. Thu., Feb. 14 for a crowd of dudes and dudettes in love and/or lust. Despite some hiccups here and there, the show was a zesty concoction of varying degrees of punk.

Stay Sharp opened the show with a quick set of Kid Dynamite-influenced punk/hardcore, serving up quick jams without too much preachiness. The Menzingers followed with a strong set of punk jams somewhere between Against Me! and Anti-Flag, with slight reggae and post-punk touches sprinkled on every so often. These guys love gang vocals, with co-vocalists (and guitarists) Tom May and Greg Barnett shouting just about every line together. Menzingers know how to write anthems too, just like their idols The Clash, whom they covered that night with a rendition of “Straight to Hell.” Here is a band to watch in 2008.

A band to avoid in 2008 is pop punk act The Steinways. While the act’s watered down Ramones/Queers style wasn’t necessarily bad — it was even cute and catchy at times – it became tiresome after the group refused to leave the stage several songs after its set was supposed to end. Other people have to play, assholes, and the audience didn’t pay just to see you.

In a way, though, it doesn’t matter how long The Steinways overplayed, thanks to Fake Problems. Easily the most energetic and entertaining band of the night, Fake Problems tore through tunes like “Adam’s Song,” “Crest on the Chest” and set opener “Maestro of This Rebellion” with abandon, instruments flying everywhere and smiles broad and ready. But for all the chaos on stage, the tunes were nearly note perfect, a solid balance between showmanship and virtuosity. While a blown amp awkwardly ended the band’s set early by a song, Fake Problems’ CCR-sped-up-a-few-RPMs style was a life-affirming moment.

Not that headliners Smoke or Fire were a poor finale. The band’s straightforward punk rock was all grit and throaty yells. Although the group couldn’t physically match Fake Problems’s energy, it certainly got by on the strength of frontman Joe McMahon’s songwriting. Smoke or Fire’s all too-brief set (thanks Steinways!) focused mostly on last year’s This Sinking Ship, but the band slipped in some older material in the form of “Point Break” and set ender “California’s Burning.” Also worth noting was touring bassist Gwomper, of Avail fame, who brought some lightheartedness to the set.

The crowd was a good one, never getting so violent as to spoil anyone’s fun, up until “California’s Burning,” when Siren reverberated with fans’ voices. The connection between McMahon and the crowd was evident on just about every chorus, and it’s a testament to his band’s skills that they bond on such a level. Overall, it was a good Valentine’s Day for the anti-corporate, three-chord-loving set.