DCxPC is a label that was founded during the Pandemic with the goal of putting out live music on vinyl. Over the past four years, they’ve done exactly that. Back in January, they put out DCxPC Live: Volume 16 featuring Long Island’s Skappository and Staten Island’s Scum Shot. The show was recorded live on February 25th, 2023 at Mr Beery’s in Bethpage, New York. Skappository is the headlining act and are featured on the A side of the album. Every song on their set list features ska influences and excellent keys, but also has heavy punk rock and some hardcore influences. They probably fall under the ska-core umbrella, but don’t expect any brass or horns.
Skappository begins their set with “The Blood I Bleed” with some heavy guitars, followed immediately with some solid keys. This is definitely an aggressive punk song, but the keys hit in some great ska riffs. This adds a nice danceable rhythm over a fast paced drum heavy track.
The band has some solid crowd interaction, and the crowd seems pretty responsive. The second track is “Theme Song”, and the keys once again steal the show. It’s a solid song, kinda catchy with a simple melody. It has some fast punk and hardcore influences, but the keys manage to tie things together while also standing out to make the song feel special.
They closed their set with “247/ 365”, and this song definitely warranted being the closer. Before getting into the song, they sampled Back to the Future with the dialog immediately before playing Johnny B Goode- which is a perfect sample before a closing song. The song itself was great, and in some ways, reminiscent of a Rancid-esque brand of ska punk. For the first time on the album, it wasn’t the keys that stole the show. The guitars and bass were great, but it was the drums that led the charge as the set ended. Thee instrumental breakdown was nearly half the length of the track, and the pacing and tension building was led by the drums and bass. The guitars were given some opportunity to show off, the keys added texture, but it was really the drums putting in the work that I enjoyed.
Skappository is definitely worth continuing to check out. They are another aggressive skacore band that leans more into the punk and even hardcore than the ska on most of their songs. But there are definite ska elements to every track. The guitars and drums are often the primary focus of the song, only to be frequently outshined by a catchy rhythm on the keytar that helps bring the song to the next level.
For the B Side of the album, we get Scum Shot with seven tracks of their own. Scum Shot is a four piece rock heavy punk rock band. They waste little time powering through their seven song set with some distortion-heavy, rock-n-roll-fueled punk rock tracks.
Scum Shot begins their set with “Road Rash”, making great use of their dual guitars and bass to power through the track while still leaving plenty of room for the vocals. While the song plays well live, and provides the energy to get the crowd moving, I imagine it cleans up nicely for a studio version that allows the different parts to shine a little cleaner.
The second track, “2 AM” has a Pixies styled intro before transitioning into the more familiar fast paced rock and punk pacing found in the other songs. Excellent drum fills are probably the highlight of the track aside from the distinctive intro. These are the themes that fill the set. The vocals are solid, with good backing vocals to accentuate key parts.
They closed their set with “Fading” and the last half of the track is completely instrumental. They provide a lot of room in this song to allow each member of the band to show off their different styles. The guitars noodling and drum fills definitely add to the set list and I can only imagine the pit was really moving here. Ultimately, Scum Shot is an excellent punk rock band for a thriving local scene that gets people moving, and it feels like that is exactly what they are trying to do.
Gimp Leg is a freelance ska fan that enjoys writing, because he is completely devoid of musical talent. He also hates cops and capitalism, but loves paleontology and baseball. He wants you to know that he is proud of you and that you are doing the best you can.