Anal Cunt are a noisecore band out of Allston, MA. Their current lineup is:

  • Seth Putnam: Vox, keyboards
  • Josh Martin: Guitar
  • Nate Lineham: Drums

Their music pretty much sounds like a vacuum cleaner running while stuff falls down the stairs, and dad is in the next room being murdered. If you're like me, most of A.C.'s appeal lies in their truly bizarre (and often offensive) song titles (as noted above).

During the summer of 2000, I saw Anal Cunt perform at the Middle East in Cambridge. It certainly wasn't the best concert I'd ever been to, and I certainly didn't have the best time, but it was "interesting."

The room was full of sort of dirty hardcore types, drunk and rowdy. Cool. That bit was fine. Until two 300+ pound men started moshing. Scary as hell.

Before A.C. started playing, Seth put on a swastika armband and led the crowd in a rousing "Heil Hitler!" Yeah. Some of the crowd were genuinely into it -- you could just tell -- and some of us just laughed. There were some who were offended. Come on, you're at an Anal Cunt concert for fuck's sake.

Seth was clearly wasted, and continued to swig from a bottle during the entire set. He offered someone $5 to punch the guy next to him. Someone else stopped him before he could slug the guy. Then, he asked another guy, standing at the foot of the stage, if he could kick him in the face.

Seth: Can I kick you in the face?
Guy: (laughing) Yeah, sure.
Seth: Seriously, do you want me to fucking kick you in the fucking face?
Guy: (drunk and brave) Go ahead.

Seth kicks the guy in the face. Hard.

Guy: (drunk and angry) Fuck you! You fucking asshole! Fuck you!
Seth: You asked for it, asshole. Here's $10.

Seriously. Fucking crazy as hell. Later in the set, Seth vomited while he was singing. He kept singing. I can't say that I ever want to go to another Anal Cunt show, but I'm certainly not sorry that I went to this one. Besides, it made me feel like a badass just being there.