Bitter American, Sickoids, Stockpile at Wasted Dream

On Friday, Bitter American, Sickoids and Stockpile packed the basement at Wasted Dream while I took a comfortable spot on the stairs.

Bitter American played their first show, yet already have a demo. (Should I say allegedly have a demo since they forgot it at home?) They recorded it before playing live. The band features members of Deathrats, State Violence, Lotus Fucker, Mob Mentality, Hubris, Sick Fix (as of last week - taking over the bass after Jeremy quit), Zhenia Golov, and Natural Law - aka Brad, Brian, and Rob. Very busy guys (and I left out their defunct bands.) Plus, Rob is driving a trolley, which is just cool, but I'm beginning to digress. In this band, they are going for a late Black Flag sound.
The Sickoids from Philly sounded great. Before they started playing, I complimented the singer on his Necros shirt and, annoyingly, he looked at me like I was an ant. (Of course, he may not have heard my words or me appreciating his shirt caught him off guard. Honestly, though, how often do you see Necros shirts? Even on E-Bay, I only come across the one that's, in essence, a Misfits flyer.) Anyway, my friend Jason regarded The Sickoids as a clone band of Government Warning - maybe because the guitarist from Government Warning plays in the Sickoids? I wholeheartedly disagree, which I noted before Jason bicycled away. The main similarity between the Sickoids and Government Warning is that they contain good musicians. The Sickoids possess a more metal touch than Government Warning does. The Sickoids songs are complex for 80s-style punk/hardcore. I wouldn't label them derivative. The only deja vu musical moment for me happened as their set ended. A Subhumans-style riff propelled their last song.