Las Vegas Weekly

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Aaron Thompson

Thu, Feb 19, 2009 (midnight)

Traditionally nerdiness hasn’t been known to score points in abrasive subcultures, and the guys in Vegas outfit Mons Wolff know it. Created two years ago as a concept band based on a theoretical comic book with a complex plot involving an underground lunar facility (their friend never got around to drawing it), the quintet is less about gimmicks than brutal, back-breaking progressive hardcore. The Weekly caught up with guitarists Jayson Kingdon and Matt Reininger and drummer Alex Lenkeit to get the latest.

You guys, Caravels, The Fucking Party, I Am the Thief ... what do you think is fanning the flame for progressive hardcore here at the moment?

Reininger: A lot of it is because most of [those bands] all listen to the same music …

Lenkeit: It’s funny, people were jamming for so long until they found the right group of people. And we’re tired of not having good music [in the city].

As always, the all-ages venue scene is a mess right now. Has that forced you guys into homes and warehouses?

Lenkeit: I’m all right playing gigs in houses. But anytime an [out-of-town] band asks us to book them a show in Vegas, I am kind of reluctant—it really is a mess. We like to get out of town as much as possible.

Were the late ’90s, with bands like Curl Up and Die and Faded Grey on the scene, a better era for up-and-coming hardcore bands in Vegas?

Kingdon: I wouldn’t say we missed it altogether ... but it’s tough to say. People still have this “They’re good, but they’re not Curl Up and Die” mentality … and we’re not really trying to [be them], but some older followers of the scene still [expect] that.