Dayton bands the Dust Hares, Good Soup and Bone House, and Cincinnati’s Purple Ambrosia, are sharing a bill on Jan. 25 at Yellow Cab Tavern.
Every band needs a defining characteristic, whether that’s a genre, an approach or a slogan.
Purple Ambrosia is post-alt grungegaze: a sludgier, less caustic homage to the dreary 1990s Seattle scene.
Good Soup is “the most local band of all time,” a punk aesthetic that is both biting and self-aware, perfectly reflecting its distorted catalog.
Bone House is rock and grunge, with a twinge more reverb in its verses for depth and sweetness (see: the 2024 single “Where the Tracks Go”).
And we already know how the Dust Hares feel.
The Dayton band released its first EP in 2023. Built on the backs of the DIY punks who came before, the four-song album, “Silly Songs for Silly People,” has one of the more horrifying cover photos in recent memory: a profile of an unknown male with a busted lip, with eyes digitally rendered to look like skin. But, as horrifying as the image may be, one cannot look at the album art and think the songs contained within are anything but what they are.
Not even in an alternate universe can “Silly Songs for Silly People” be a pop album; it’s punk to the core.
Recorded in the band’s basement practice space, made only with a cheap interface and the available microphones, the album leans into the self-produced dirtiness of its genre of music. Depending on the track, the album sounds like it could’ve been recorded on a 4-track in the early-80s, or on an overworked laptop last year.
The band came up playing Weezer and A-ha covers at a high school talent show, which turned into playing for friends, which eventually turned into playing bars. The Dust Hares — made up of guitarist/vocalist Maddox Koesters, bassist Jayden Philpot and drummer Jacob George — has been jamming together for three years. Its first public show was last January.
When the Dust Hares started, the boys in the band looked up to the bigger guys in town and asked them how to book shows. Now, with a solid connection to the DIY scene — not just in terms of sonics, but also the aesthetics that define it — the Dust Hares has been swapping shows at the Hidden Gem, Belmont Billiards and Cincinnati venues ever since.
This will be the first time the Dust Hares will play with Purple Ambrosia, but on repeat bills with Good Soup and Bone House.
“We’re kids; it’s not like we are professional,” said Jacob George, the band’s drummer. “I wouldn’t say we’re actually the worst. But I think part of it comes from that dirty grunge DIY sound. You don’t have to be good. You don’t have to be the best. It just kind of fits into that punk feeling of not caring, and just having fun with it.”
Brandon Berry writes about the Dayton and Southwest Ohio music and art scene. Have a story idea for him? Email branberry100@gmail.com.
How to go
What: Good Soup / The Dust Hares / Purple Ambrosia / Bone House
When: 8 p.m., Jan. 25
Where: Yellow Cab Tavern, 700 E. 4th St., Dayton
Cost: $10
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