Akimbo is a breath of fresh air in the hardcore scene that will, no doubt, rip apart like a tornado. Its original sound is worth listening to, even by non-hardcore fans. The band uses distorted bass, a double bass drum battery and guitar riffs that vary from the typical hardcore "chunka-chunka" to emo-influenced melodies. It all comes together in one ultimate and original hardcore sound that similar bands need to take tips from.
Witnessing the almighty force known as Akimbo is like watching tribal warriors prepare for war. Their dancing looks like violent seizures and their battle cries are screams that so piercing they can be heard without a P.A. (which has actually been proven). Akimbo shows are great for releasing energy and violent, primal dancing. Even just standing back and absorbing experience is exhilarating. Go see Akimbo and prepare to rock like an animal.
Next show: Jan. 14 at 7 p.m., HUB Auditorium, with Poxy and Defiance. $5, $4 with student ID. Proceeds go toward Ruckus magazine. Next release: 10" record with Teen Cthulu, Feb. 1.
taken from:
The University of Washington Student Newspaper
Thursday, January 13, 2000
by Kevin "Flush" Jones
Quite an evening of undead robotic unicorn core
Bryan Bingold
Staff Reporter
With the eminent demise of Seattle’s RKCNDY, the phenomenon known as the all ages show will be as extinct as the dinosaurs — unless local bands can find other accommodating venues.Frantically running around like ants whose hill has been stamped out by a huge corporate sneaker, local bands are searching to find a new, safe harbor.
Sympathetic souls are providing bands with sanctuary in most unlikely places. One of these makeshift venues is Hi-Score Video Arcade, which hosted a show last Friday featuring two local hard-core bands, Akimbo and Teen Cthulhu.
Hi-Score was full of the beeping, wailing and electronic screeching of video games. As loud as these sources of brain numbing fun were, they were soon drowned out by the nihilistic sounds of Akimbo. Playing to a small but compact crowd, Akimbo was there to show that teenage hard-core is here to stay.
Hi-Score is not designed to host concerts. Pinball and other gaming machines line the walls, but there is an awesome ambiance present in that situation. One recalls going to a friend’s basement to hear a band play for lack of a better venue. And, like the concerts in your friend’s basement, the PA system at Hi-Score left something to be desired, but Akimbo and Teen Cthulhu made the best of the situation.
Akimbo’s music ranges from the fast paced you-can’t-tell-me-what-to-do fits of rage to moody breaks of pure musicianship. Guitarist Kyle Iman also happens to be a sophomore at Seattle University. So if you see Iman around campus, stop and ask him where Akimbo will be playing next. They are a must see for any hard-core fan.
Drummer Nat Damm kept a steady beat with an occasional roundhouse fill for this locomotive-out-of-control band. Bassist Jon Weisnewski fervently abused his bass until a string broke (no easy task). But the situation was soon under control and Weisnewski was back to provide the adrenaline flooded heartbeat for Akimbo.
As the night was forced forward by the unleashed fury of Akimbo, Hi-Score’s crowd multiplied. The audience was speckled with hard-core fans, trendy punk scenesters and video game fanatics. Despite the distorted entourage, people were still feeding quarters into those insatiable machines. Even though their eyes were hypnotically drawn to flickering screens, their bodies were caught by the music of Akimbo and Teen Cthulhu.
Head nodding and restrained mosh pit dancing were a virus that infected few and then spread contagiously throughout the crowd. Akimbo, though lacking an actual stage, had a stupendous presence nonetheless. This is a band who is into their music as much as their biggest fans. Hard-core nirvana would be to see them on an actual stage.
When Seattle-based Teen Cthulhu started their audio onslaught, all video games beeped solely for their own amusement as the players were drawn to the back of Hi-Score. By now a good half of Hi-Score was filled, not an easy feat to accomplish by word of mouth alone. If Phil Spector was concerned with placing a wall of sound before his listeners, then Teen Cthulhu wanted to shove their audience down and give them a few good ones to the head.
Featuring two bassists, a keyboardist, a guitarist, drums and a chorus of screamers, Teen Cthulhu was there to make sure you could physically feel their music push you around. Given a better PA system, Teen Cthulhu could give birth to spontaneous mosh pits with the attack of a couple of chords. They could give a corpse a steady pulse.
Teen Cthulhu has an interesting approach to their music. Usually a band has separate instruments with their own distinct sound. But Teen Cthulhu takes in their basses, guitar, keyboard and drums and forms a new instrument. This new instrument gets inside the audiences head and threatens to explode. The effect of Brandon’s and Calvin’s dual bass attack makes Teen Cthulhu very bottom heavy. Guitarist TJ, however, takes a few commanding interludes to remind the audience that hard-core was once born from music’s womb.
Though lacking the stage presence of Akimbo, Teen Cthulhu music is presence enough. Something tells me that if there aren’t a few spontaneous nose bleedings at the show, the band won’t go home happy. Unleashing a short but definitely enraged set, Teen Cthulhu, left the audience stunned, shocked and shaking from their unique sound.
As the band packed up their equipment, the audience wandered around dazed until they were drawn to the relative safety of the beckoning video games, determined to beat those machines to a pulp or go broke.
taken from:
The Seattle University Spectator
Tuesday, October 7, 1999.
The stunning design of this tri fold two color cover doesn't give a hint as to the music that lies within, which definetely helps Akimbo because if they had a layout that screamed "This is a screamy hardcore band" it would not have anwhere near as powerful of an effect. The first track on this 3 song ep starts with the same note repeating over and over. It builds and builds, starting with clean guitars until the whole mix is destorted and the vocals are screaming in your ear. It quickly goes from slightly annoying to making you realize this band gets power from sources other bands haven't yet dreamed up. The second song starts with more twangy guitar, and explodes into the onslaught of music that is most comparable to bands from the midwest (Jerome's Dream, Usurpe Synapse and the like.) The fact that at times Akimbo seems a little sloppy only helps them out. This is a solid release that could have been recorded better, but is overall a pleasure and a new breath in an already stagnant scene. (chris smith) Rock N Roll Play Records/634 NW 48th/Seattle Wa. 98107 record review taken from geekamerica.com