The pipes of punk

Don’t chew your beer. This band isn’t the Sex Pistols, Her Majesty’s punks screaming on and on about Parliament. No Fuego’s sound is plus-charged, bagpipe lines twisting through punk rock intensity. Just listen to “Following Skylines,” from their new album Dropping Expectations. Then sometimes the pipes step up and scream their own anthem like “4 a.m.

Lullaby.” True, any safety-pinned ear will hear a Dropkick Murphys influence, but No Fuego thickens their drive with plenty of emotion. A mathematical convergence of guitar, bass, drums, and bagpipe will first win over the head; then No Fuego’s spirit defibrillates the heart.

Brothers, storms, love, grit, whiskey—that’s No Fuego.

A second home, North Gate Tavern is the band’s venue of choice. The crowd it draws could be anyone from your intern to your dentist. The crowd is also No Fuego, who doesn’t separate being the band from being a friend. So un-pop your collar and go talk to them. Then get another beer.

I’m sipping mine and talking with Marshall Pounds (bagpipe) and Remy Barthe (guitar, vocals). “What I was saying,” explains Pounds, “is that we’re like brothers.”

The only thing stouter is Barthe’s reply: “Like brothers?” And he’s right. Who says families need genes? This punk rock feels like one, and a talented group, too. myspace.com/nofuego