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Home - Music
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Working Class Rock
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At first The Briggs’ lead singer Joey LaRocca was a little apprehensive about splitting a tour between opening gigs for popular Irish punk act Flogging Molly and shows the band booked themselves. After all, it’s kind of weird playing to upwards of 2,000 people one night then headlining for small bar crowds the next.
“I thought it was going to be a problem because it’s hard to get into a routine, but actually it’s been working out just fine,” LaRocca said during a band hair-cutting session at the house of Johnny Rioux, from fellow punk band Street Dogs in Houston. “Our shows have actually been doing pretty good; we’ve had some pretty decent crowds on our own.”
LaRocca has also noticed quite a few fans of The Briggs showing up to the Flogging Molly shows, which shouldn’t be a surprise: The group’s become a solid punk band in its own right. The Los Angeles-based four-piece has working-class street punk credentials but also some poppy elements to its sound. It’s not a case of sounding exactly like the Pogues or exactly like Rancid.
“We’re trying to pull it in a new direction,” LaRocca said of the band’s sound. “We have a reputation of being very true to our influences and being true to the grandfathers of punk rock. I do value that reputation, but I also think that for ourselves, and the rest of the music world, it’s definitely something that’s wanted. Any band that’s been big it’s because they were doing something different.”
Recently signed by SideOne Dummy Records, home to Flogging Molly and The Suicide Machines, the guys have been touring incessantly over the past year and building a fan base. The Briggs took a break from recording its newest album to participate in this tour, and will be heading back to the studio this spring in hopes of finishing it over the summer.
“We’ve really actually wanted to get in the studio and write a new record,” LaRocca said. “We’ve been touring on an EP for over a year now and the kids are starting to get a little restless — there’s only six songs on it. Only so much touring you can do on six songs.”
The Briggs play Lincoln’s Duggan’s Pub, 440 S. 11th St., Saturday, March 4 with Westside Proletariat, Jaeger Fight and This is We. Tickets are $7; show starts at 8 p.m. |
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