SnoCore Show Proves Some Like It Harsh

The backlash against boy bands and pop queens has played a part in the success of today’s most aggressive rock bands, and if Saturday’s SnoCore show at the Hollywood Palladium is any sign, disenfranchised youth want it noisier, angrier and uglier. The tour showcased pure, no-frills ferocity.

The Union Underground showed the most potential of the five bands on the bill. With two monitors at each side of the stage screening dark images and such words as “filth,” “power” and “rebellion,” the Texas band proved to be as visual as they were aural, even if the Palladium’s bass-heavy sound didn’t do much to show off their grooves. Recalling White Zombie, Powerman 5000 and even Stone Temple Pilots, the band has the material and the grand stage presence to make them the next heavy hitters.

The growling grinds of Kittie, by contrast, were less about rhythm and more about riffs. The four teenage girls, who first got attention for their garish goth looks and confrontational tunes, haven’t mellowed with maturity, although they’ve pared down their ghoulish elements and strengthened the metallic edge of their music. While this more severe approach will ensure they never get compared to the Go-Go’s or even to contemporaries such as the Donnas, it lacks the accessibility to transcend their underground status.

The sweaty crowd relished Kittie’s clamorous offerings, but it was headliner Fear Factory’s machine-gun guitars and screeching vocal rants that epitomized the night’s sensibility. While the Los Angeles band’s intelligent thrash ponders issues such as the loss of humanity to technology, all words were lost in their thunderous guitar rumbles and drum beats.

But that didn’t seem to matter to the young fans who jumped and moshed with tireless abandon throughout the band’s long set. Aggro-rock fans can be as fervent as even the most obsessive pop lovers.