Blame Shifters shift the blame at Silhouette Lounge on Wednesday, 15 January 2025.

The Stress Balls, Westside Rats, and Disqualifier open the fourstack punk bill.

Free dildos for the taking.

The latest edition of Tami-Fest – Tami-Fest 4 – will take place at Lizard Lounge on Tuesday, January 21. Hit it up. And don’t try to order the drink of the month, which is a mocktail called “Cherry Pie,” because nobody at the bar has ever heard of it. Just as well. I’m breaking my Dry January as I type these very w o r d s.

The three-piece Disqualifier out of Connecticut were repping the “860,” which is an area code that covers cities like Hartford, New Britain, Bristol, Middletown, New London and other cultural destinations.

The band wasn’t handing out free dildos, but they did release an album last June, Consolidating Logistics Since 1776. They played a song off the album called “Politicians,” which, during some stage banter, the fronter glossed as a song about how politicians suck.

He asked if there were any politicians in the crowd and one lady actually raised her hand. Apparently a local socialist – didn’t catch a name, not sure if she’s currently in office. She’s got the Silhouette Lounge vote anyway.

The three-piece Westside Rats out of Worcester were handing out free dildos. At least two, each one different.

The first one was a larger item with the full ramrod-type design for quality thrusting. The second one was a smaller item, a nubby little thing designed to laser-target the clitoris. Both were electric-powered and rechargeable via USB.

Maybe you will be the next fortunate soul to receive a free dildo at a Westside Rats show?

The band promised, or at least hoped, that everyone in the audience would have wet underpants by the end of the set. In an unrelated stunt, the fronter stripped down to his underpants during the set, and flashed a quick moon for good measure.

No more free dildos were distributed after the second set, so you missed your chance if you only showed up for the Stress Balls. They played high-energy punk. There were some half-hearted efforts to slam dance in the pit, but with a show like this, with four bands that didn’t seem to know each other, it’s hard to hit that critical mass of chicanery on a Wednesday night in January.

The Stress Balls released a demo last year, check it out.

I think I’m losing my mind. As soon as I think I’ve pinned down this band’s name as one thing, it stealthily transforms to another thing. Maybe it’s a gentle case of OCD, or Alzheimer’s, maybe it’s journalistic integrity, but I want to get it right.

Is it “Blame Shifters”?

Or “Blame Shifter”?

Or “Blameshifters”?

Or “Blameshifter”?

It’s Blame Shifters at their Bandcamp. But I know I’ve seen it spelled differently elsewhere.

The three-piece kicked out some angular punk rock, a few songs with hyper local lyrics. Is this band more into radical politics than your average punk outfit, or am I just drawing unsupported inferences based on all the balaclavas in the album art for their 2024 full-length release Everyone Must Go? No one can say for sure.

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