I had been jonesing to see a good hair-thrashing, fist-raising punk rock show for a while. So when I joined the large crowd that gathered before Leftover Crack at FunFunFun Fest, my eyes watered with joy as I watched Stza Crack, the archetypal punk, swig from a bottle of Johnnie Walker Red Label in between songs, as he spewed anarchist principles (F**K the government, F**K the police, F**K Texas!) Half-full beer cans flew in sporadic arches as Stza and his band mates sang, their shrieks tearing into the souls of pious punk fans as their ska-punk tunes made the entire crowd bounce. Brief interludes gave the skinny, tattooed Stza time to reminisce on the past, his former drug habit and of his recent clash with the cops. (Earlier this year, Stza was arrested during one of their shows in their stomping grounds of New York for throwing an entire box of donuts at the police.) Although Leftover Crack’s profound animosity toward the police may be their least articulate point with catchy anthems like "One Dead Cop," Leftover Crack has been a radical voice for nearly two decades with its message of utter anarchy meshed with commentary of social injustice. Stza gabbed candidly with the crowd, making it no secret that he was planning on getting sloshed during the show and also that he had some beef with the apparently homophobic HR of the much-revered Bad Brains. How characteristic of Mr. Crack to undermine one of the punk rock gods, when other bands that appeared on stage that day sang praises. Despite the raucous punks and the hard aerial objects overhead, the energy Leftover Crack invested into each of their songs made this one of the most personable, intimate shows I have seen yet. It was, without a doubt, the perfect punk rock fix.
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