All Ages Punk-ish Show at GXE Entertainment Sunday Night with Mute Issue, Racing Exit 13 (Staten Island)

Racing Exit 13 is, technically, a hardcore-influenced Staten Island band. But calling Racing Exit 13 “New York hardcore” makes you think of a bunch of beefy Biohazard-type dudes running around. This quintet has a much subtler vibe than that, name-checking plenty of those heavy, but, errr, thoughtful acts of the mid- to late-Nineties as influences: Texas is the Reason, Samiam, Grade, Hot Water Music, et. al. (Ah, to return to the days about a decade ago when “emo” wasn’t a four-letter word.)

At the same time, though, the band’s MySpace page also shouts out bands

like Face to Face, and there’s definitely plenty of that fast,

up-tempo, skate-punk kind of vibe as well. This is energetic,

feel-good-as-you-don’t-feel-so-good stuff. Oh, and did we mention there

are breakdowns and pile-on-able shouted choruses?

Also on the bill (among a few other bands) are the up-and-coming Miami melodic punk trio Mute Issue.

Go check out this random-venue show (it’s at a gaming shop), and stave

off the existential dread associated with Monday. What else are you

going to do that night?

Sunday,

— Arielle Castillo