Every now and then in Seattle there’s a bill that juxtaposes the strangest artists and venues together. Thomas Erak-led The Fall of Troy, beloved local post-hardcore set, shared the stage with pinchably-adorable family band Pig Snout at an old dive up in the South Lake Union neighborhood called El Corazón.
Pig Snout is father/guitarist-songwriter Justin Tamminga (age 38), daughter Dahlia (age 7), and son Lucien (age 9), who were recently featured in Seattle’s Child Magazine. Maybe, given Erak’s educational cameos, this match-up isn’t all that weird – but the studded-denim-and-cigarette mecca that is El Corazón isn’t exactly made for a Converse-clad Partridge Family.
At the beginning of Pig Snout’s set, there was a very modest crowd with eager faces ready to lap up the cuteness. However, their opening instrumental jam “Catfish” was heavy as hell – especially considering it was played on a junior drum set with googly-eyes stuck on – and it grew immediately and exponentially.
What seemed like an “aren’t-we-tiny” gimmick and nothing else, quickly showed to be a set of solid riffs, mostly of old-school metal. The kids traded off between drums, keys, and sampling pads, with both getting a chance to solo on the kit (Lucien’s brought down the house, thanks in part to wearing braces that gave him a mean punk-thizz face).
Their heavy sound, tempo changes, rhythmic figures gave you something to enjoy if you’re burnt out by the Smooshes of the world. Unfortunately, while we all found all that and their “never back down/hold your ground” lyrical themes impressive (which were sung by the kids), they spent a little too long telling poop jokes and hamming it up for the crowd. They were cut off before their most well-known escapist YouTube vid “The Tar Trap.”
Come time for The Fall of Troy to commandeer their heading spot, Erak mentioned that this show marked not only the 10th anniversary of Doppelgänger (their 2005 sophomore effort), but also the 10th anniversary of El Corazón’s birth (from the former Graceland that stood in its spot), thus making more sense of this lineup.
…Troy two sets – the first, Doppelgänger from front to back, and the second featuring 2008’s Ghostship EP the same. The pit was lively, respectful and positive – it seemed to be an anomalous asshole-free zone – which gave Pig Snout’s little Lucien the freedom to crowd-surf (arguably the show’s highlight).
As for actual highlights musically, the crowd shrieked adulation basically any time Erak started a memorable riff or mentioned a song title. But, at ten years A.D. (after Doppelganger), there was no need for the scene-ist of scene kids to continue their thirst for cred – everyone screamed along the loudest with the slightly-cheesy choruses in “F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X.:” [LISTEN]
All in all, just like some other heavy reunion shows I’ve seen, this was the tightest live performance the group may have ever done. There wasn’t a wasted moment in any of their improvised jams. Erak didn’t do a gratuitous drum solo, and save for some intentionally exaggerated tempo changes for effect, they basically sounded exactly like their records. The records that, as Tamminga put it, were “so good [he] wanted to quit.” Thankfully he didn’t.
