HUSSEINS

Atlanta punk band The Husseins really couldn’t care less if anyone comes to the show tonight.

Either way, a bloody, thundering storm of punk and attitude is headed for Athens, regardless if anyone is ready.

As could be expected from a band who took its name from, as Hardwick said, “the greatest dictator of our time,” experiencing The Husseins live is an unforgiving, savage experience — it’s almost certain that hood rats will leave with bruises and lacerations.

Not to mention being drenched in beer and sweat in Atlanta’s finest ill-lit basements and grimiest clubs. “We were playing a house show in the West End of Atlanta, and Joe, the sexy lead singer of the band, was playing and got pushed down on the ground and about 17 people stomped on his face,” Stroup said of a show in the fall. “He started bleeding all over the place, but guess what? We kept playing and it was awesome. Blood was everywhere. So if you ever see Joe, the scar is in the middle of his eyes and please make Harry Potter jokes.”

Talking to The Husseins in any conventional sense is nearly impossible.

But it’s this — the members’ wild, mostly drunken and spastic energy — that makes the band so unique in the Atlanta punk-scene.

It is pure, un-adulterated garage-punk that is too rock ’n’ roll for the general population. That being said, the band does not fit into the protocol for the usual antics of punk bands.

“Ronny James Dio, Katy Perry, but most of all, WHAM!,” said Hardwick as he was listing the band’s influences. “Oh, yeah, and Motorhead.”

The Husseins has furiously pushed its way into recognition all over Atlanta, acquiring support from the punk scene following it from house show to house show and bar to bar.

“They’re just a couple of regular nice guys,” said Aaron Smith, the self-described “best buddy of The Husseins.” “If I could pick one word to describe The Husseins it would be ‘jubilee.’ They play garage punk, do a Sonic cover and Joe likes to fall over when they’re done. And they don’t sound like the Black Lips.” - The Red and Black

Husseins played with the necessary energy of a super-speed punk band, but with little effort or sweat—a commodity only youth and varieties of ectodermal dyplasia can offer. (Yeah, I Googled that.) Apologies were made for sound issues, but none were easily audible. Either that or I was too busy wondering if, even mid-set, they’d outshined the headliner. On almost any given bill an upset in the Husseins’ favor could be feasible. - Creative Loafing Atlanta

Husseins' celebrate the release of its Live at Thunderbox debut cassette for Pink House Tapes. The band of honor rips through biting and melodic punk charges. Fellow locals the Clap and Them Thangs also perform. - Creative Loafing Atlanta