The War On Women 7/2/18 Cafe 9

Maryland aggro-punk collective War On Women played a brief gnarly set at the 9. The resume includes the Vans Warped tour which tells a lot. I knew to grab the earplugs when my car was shaking while parking two blocks up the street from the club. WOW were a quintet, three front females on lead vocals and yelping, bass, and rhythm guitar, with a male skinhead on lead and an African American male on drums. The drummer was shirtless and ripped and provided the high octane motor for the group. The singer prowled and growled in a manner of The Minutemen or Husker Du. Comparisons to the riot grrl progenitors Bikini Kill are apt, and the lead singer's "don't fuck with me" mentality is like Kathleen Hanna from that band. The crowd, New Haven's finest face metal, autistically bobbed and sang along with each tune. This brings me to the political part of the story. WOW coalesced in synchronicity with the #metoo movement fueled by the misogynist in the White House. Feminist punk seems like a lonely genre, but the chorus of "Fuck Trump" between songs made me realize I was among friendlys. Towards the end of the show, the traditional punk circle formed with bearded white outsiders pushing and flailing to the music. The message from WOW was distinctly liberal (here's a song about trans rights), but the vocal delivery of this genre is kind of unintelligible. This leads me to the current state of the Democratic Party.  The underlying message may resonate with many, but the delivery is heard by a few.