(Blue)Tip Of The Iceberg

The alt-rock reunion craze of the past five years has finally gotten around to the Dischord roster, and J.I. is over the moon because of it (Jawbox, you better be next). First Shudder To Think shrugged off the cobwebs and announced a fall North American tour, and now Bluetip is back for a handful of one-off shows six years after splitting.

The first was Sunday night (Aug. 24) in front of a healthy crowd at New York's Mercury Lounge, and damnit if these guys don't look almost exactly the same as they did eight years ago when they were playing at the late, great Brownie's.

But they sounded about as tight as ever, playing all 13 of the songs they'd learned in advance of upcoming gigs in London and Spain (favorites like "Yellow Light" and "Castanet" were oddly missing, with frontman Jason Farrell admitting of the latter, "it's still a little dusty").

Farrell, guitarist Dave Stern, bassist Jake Kump and drummer Joe Gorelick wasted no time rocketing back to their hardcore glory days by opening with "Nickelback," the first song on their 1996 Dischord debut, "Dischord No. 101." From there Bluetip tore into tracks like "Cheap Rip," "Join Us," "Precious," "Haunted House," "F-Minus" and "Salinas," conjuring its signature blend of Shudder To Think's tough guy riffing, the Dismemberment Plan's self-lacerating lyrics and Fugazi's dynamic post-punk.

Farrell recalled the band's early tours prior to "Slovakian," a weary travelogue that balances the juvenile desire to "piss on every continent" with the sobering realization that "it's yesterday back home."

The encore was all early stuff, highlighted by "If I Ever Sleep Again" and "Past Tense" from the debut album. Then the boys happily walked off stage and out the door, leaving a delightful ringing in the ears to remember them by one last time.