The III, Bequest, Colossal Rains
Cousin Danny's
5001 Market St.
Philadelphia
Feb. 13, 2026
It dawned on me just now that the two shows I attended last week were both all-local gigs. Philadelphia feels like an unending source of talent and events, but you can ask any promoter here and I bet you they’ll say they wish there were more new acts to share stages with the many touring artists coming here. Maybe this is because many artists here have multiple projects. When someone can’t do one show, that takes any act they’re a part of off the list of options. Maybe it’s because venue real estate is tough to come by these days. Rumor has it that the building once known as the legendary punk venue Killtime is available for rent again. It’d be pretty sweet if some intrepid young punks could manage to craft an agreement with the property manager. Andy Nelson even told me he has keys to the place still, but they’ve probably changed the locks since then… Below are some videos of shows there from the days of yore, the first being one that happened on the day of this piece’s authorship 26 years ago:
Dillinger Escape Plan 2.15.2000 The Killtime
American Nightmare, Philadelphia, PA Killtime 9/22/2001
The Locust - Live at the Killtime in Philadelphia, PA (FULL SET) [7/17/1999]
Dropdead Live Killtime, Philly Oct 6 2001 (Pointless Fest?)
This particular all-locals gig, held at the ever-busy Cousin Danny’s, was a benefit for the Philadelphia non-profit Juntos. The community-led organization fights for the rights of the city’s immigrants through information dissemination, case management/legal assistance, food distribution, and much more. Another way to describe Juntos is an organization that is quite literally on the front-lines of defense for the continued attacks against Philadelphia’s and Pennsylvania’s immigrant communities. Below is a link to their website alongside the number to their ICE Raid Response Hotline.
Hotline: 814-205-3293
Performing for the night were The III, Bequest, and Colossal Rains — three bands with three very different styles. The III, one of the two new bedroom projects from DIY maven Will McAndrew (the other being Chancers, whose show I had to forgo in order to cover the Spectral Forces gig) is a project whose songs were written between November 2020 and July 2021. This is also popularly known as the period in which quarantine started and everything went to shit. McAndrew, a longtime gig-worker and road dog, was forced into a period of inactivity during this time, making The III a reflection of the loss of a sense of purpose. As they played, I thought about the slight Americana vibe The III was dishing, then about singer/songwriter Bill Callahan, his band Smog, and the emotional similarities between the two. For me, there’s touches of Lindsay Buckingham’s style sprinkled on top too, namely in the minor chords and strum styles. There aren’t any vocal similarities between Bill and Will, but both bands sound gray. That’s the best word I can use for it.
During this time, McAndrew transmuted a lot of his love for James Williamson of The Stooges, Wipers’ 1987 album “Follow Blind,” as well as Wipers’ Greg Sage’s two solo albums, 1985’s Straight Ahead, and 1991’s Sacrifice (For Love) into The III. Lyrics like, “Stand tall, speak your own name,” and “If you want me to stay inside/you better open that wallet wide/It ain’t cheap to keep the peace,” stood out as statements of confidence and affirmation in acknowledgment of the costs of male arrogance, working toward two different ends. The first, in McAndrew’s words, “being scared to stand up for yourself and speak your thoughts because you have a hard time doing so,” and the second, a demand to be compensated as a citizen who has been taken advantage of by the powers that be.
Greg Sage - Sacrifice (For Love)
There’s a desolation and resolute acknowledgment of our reality in The III’s music, the same reality that makes an organization like Juntos necessary in the first place. It's like the sound of someone who is taking a really long and honest look at the world around them, noticing every wart and every chip in the façade. I took in the band’s dusky, introspective rock and jotted down some made-up genres that I then fired at Will after their set. They, and Will’s responses, read as follows: Gloom rock. “Sure.” Kinda-fried-neo-beat-poetry. *Chuckles* “[Beat poetry is] not something I was thinking about as much, but I do think a lot about trying to deliver something in a way that’s both earnest, but not overly so, while also maintaining a sense of humor about it.” (We then discuss how acknowledging the inherent melodrama of earnestness is a practice of self-knowledge) Post-industrial Americana? “The Americana sound, I’ve been hearing more with this one, and the post-industrial is maybe checking some boxes.” Last genre, Hair-Swingin’ Rock. “Absolutely. One hundred percent top of the pile, top of the heap, signed, sealed, delivered.”
The III: Dig Your Own Grave EP
Bequest, a trio of current members of Philly heavy rotators Dark Thoughts, Ex-Tradition, and K.O.S., to name only a few, were next. Singer/guitarist Danny Cox’s sweat-streaked makeup aside, Bequest naturally assert themselves as experienced purveyors of dirty ass noisy punk with every show I see them play. Cox’s guttural vocals sit in league with bands like Svart Parad and Disfear, while drummer Florence Lin and bassist Trey Stallings propel each song at a tempo manageable enough to dance to but still fast enough to peep the Swedish influence. Lin’s style, their pocket so to speak, is in between the spaces in the guitar and bass riffs. Top-driven and polyrhythmic music are their preferences; they both reflect and respond to what’s being played, often at the same damn time. “Everything is percussion,” Cox tells me, while attempting to explain to my drunk ass that a wall of sound is sonically divided, and then paired, by each instrument’s frequencies. Guitar and cymbals correspond to the high frequencies of the wall, while bass corresponds with kick and snare’s lower frequencies. If I had the presence of mind to say so at the time, I would’ve realized that I just learned something valuable about mixing punk rock recordings.
On another side of the nerd coin, I’m personally fascinated by the sonic asymmetry of Swedish d-beat and hardcore punk, considering that symmetry and melody are the foundation of many eurocentric models in music. Obviously, punk isn’t born of the European tradition. Not but a few weeks ago, I found a very early usage of a d-beat, the punk drumming staple largely credited to UK legends Discharge, in a 1966 performance of Muddy Waters’ “Got My Mojo Workin.” It’s only for like a measure and a half, but it’s there. I will say, many game-changing sonic innovations within the genre can absolutely be credited to European musicians, this phenomenon of the “raw punk” wall of sound being one of them. Beyond that, there has been more than enough history both in and out of Europe to warrant the necessity of punk and its many sub-genres as “resistance music.” With this kind of stuff, you don’t so much use guitar to play a melodic role, but more-so as a texture that gives extra distortion to the bass guitar, which simultaneously handles melodic and rhythmic duties. As Cox was explaining earlier, this basically makes every member of many bands, Bequest included, a rhythm player. I too am primarily a rhythm player, so naturally this attracts me.
Muddy Waters - Got My Mojo Workin’ (d-beat at 2:49)
Last up was the aptly named Colossal Rains, a band whose gruff-voiced riffy metal, a la Clutch and Mastodon, sounded like an approaching storm reaching your location and dousing you with its deluge. Real PA mountain man shit, which primed me for my buddy Eric’s revelation that this band was “basically all of Blacklisted,” a Philadelphia hardcore staple. The music is very cerebral, made for people who love headbanging and guitar music, but also maybe wanna do so while eating mushrooms. If you know, you know. If you don’t, here’s a link for that ass.
Blacklisted - No One Deserves To Be Here More Than Me
Colossal Rains: Music - Bandcamp
Keep searching for the common threads between our histories and styles! Happy studying!
