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, January 11. GXE Entertainment, 134 E. McNab Rd., Pompano Beach. Show starts at 7 p.m., admission is $5. All ages. 954-946-1516, www.myspace.com/gxegames.

-- Arielle Castillo