36 Oct 19th–Oct 25th, 2023 phoenixnewtimes.com phoenix new Times | music | cafe | film | culTuRe | NighT+Day | feaTuRe | NeWs | OPiNiON | feeDBacK | cONTeNTs | Make It Loud Punk rockers Overstand are set to take over Phoenix. BY TOM REARDON S omeday there will be a term for the children conceived between March 2020 and December 2021. It won’t be the greatest moniker ever, but these COVID-babies or worse, CO-vers, are going to be part of the long tradition of generational nicknames. Boomers and Gen-Xers beware. During the quiet times, though, in the East Valley, there was another type of birth taking place. Overstand, composed of several veterans of the local (and national) punk and hardcore scene, were also a COVID baby. The four-piece band throw down some top-notch, heavy-duty punk rock with a strong East Coast hardcore vibe. If you dig on bands like Agnostic Front, Bad Brains and a dash of Adrenalin O.D., then you’ll love Overstand. Each of the musicians in Overstand are former members of local wiseacres Bro-Loaf. Bassist Roy Valencia, guitarist Todd Hamilton, singer Ben Barnes and drummer Ren Cullen are either part of or have been part of what seems like dozens of Valley bands. Valencia and Barnes were also bandmates in Casket Life, which was a popular punk band for well over a decade. Hamilton is a member of North Side Kings (and, in full disclosure, so is the author of this piece) and, prior to moving to Arizona, Hamilton was also a member of New York City’s Warzone. Cullen is part of the excellent local band The Dark Hearts as well, where he drums and handles lead vocal duty. “[The band] feels new, but because we are kind of a COVID band, we’ve had some of these songs forever,” says Valencia, who also played with Roger Miret and the Disasters. Even though the music is hard-hitting, fast and aggressive, you couldn’t ask for a nicer group of guys. The band recently played an absolutely crushing set at TT Roadhouse on a Sunday afternoon in September and the powerful three-singer attack was noticeable. Once they get Cullen singing backups, too, the four-part harmo- nies will be ridicu- lously good. “We are having a lot of fun. Ben writes great lyrics and we work together to fill things out. Todd has a cool, beefy voice that’s different than any of ours and it’s cool how it all works out,” Valencia says. In March of this year, the band released their first, eponymous EP and are currently working on a follow-up LP to be released in 2024. Tracks like “Crack in the Mirror” and “Reaction” stand out as both killer and fresh additions to the Phoenix area musical landscape. There is no filler in the seven songs currently available for streaming online. You can find them here. “We had all the years of Bro-Loaf to get the ‘get to know you’ part of the band out of the way and this is probably, honestly, the most fun I’ve had in a band in a long time. We all work together and get along really well,” Valencia says. “TODD HAS A COOL, BEEFY VOICE THAT’S DIFFERENT THAN ANY OF OURS AND IT’S COOL HOW IT ALL WORKS OUT.” From left to right, Roy Valencia, Todd Hamilton, Ben Barnes and Ren Cullen make up Overstand. (Photo by Dayton Paiva) t Music
