Candy Snatchers to hit the Union with vengeance

For some, music simply fills the void of background silence or provides an artistic expression through performance. For bands such as Virginia's Candy Snatchers, music is a drunken, rowdy debauchery, in which the mundane reality of daily existence is stomped to the ground by thumping rock 'n' roll.

During live performances, The Candy Snatchers resemble exactly what the title of their last studio album, Human Zoo, suggests - all-out chaos. Lead vocalist/screamer Larry May's antagonistic behavior and self-mutilation often has left onlookers in disbelief, much like zoo-goers watching a lion devour its meal. Similarly, The Candy Snatchers play meaty punk rock that should sustain most any listener's appetite for feisty guitars, rampaging drums and from-the-bowls screaming.

Much like the trashy bands of the 1970s, such as The New York Dolls and the Dwarves, the Candy Snatchers is a no-frills act whose image is rooted in its musical approach of anti-imagery. The band is anything but aesthetically pleasing, and their attitude is sure to make more enemies than friends. Yet, it all seems to make sense once the music gets rolling and the beer starts flying.

Opening their last album with the scorching "No Time to Waste," the disc rumbles on with the vengeance of a double-crossed Hell's Angel, never letting up through the "Moronic Pleasures" finale. Yes, this is punk at its most simplistic and stylistically unchallenging level, but that is precisely what keeps their approach interesting.

Rather than attempt to hide behind false pretension and obscurity, The Candy Snatchers shamelessly bash listeners upside the head with brash lyrics about drinking and causing disorder, but they never are concerned with its artistic merit. Their songs are not titled "If You Can't Have Fun, You Ain't No Fun," and "Drunken Blur" by accident.

These cats like to reek havoc through various musical high jinks and crazed onstage antics, and what better place to do that than The Union? Couple this with local liquor-soaked bluesers Geraldine and Athens' newest punkers Bullet 66, and it is an essential evening of musical mayhem. Do yourself a favor and begin this Memorial Day Weekend with a show that surely will remain in the collective memories of all rock fans.

Candy Snatchers play tonight at The Union, 18 W. Union St. with opening acts Geraldine and Bullet 66. The show begins at 10 p.m., and there is a cover.

- Steve Kehnel