Kevin Bronson on August 19th, 2015

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With a change this year to the much larger (and more sterile) venue, the Observatory complex in Orange County, Berserktown II assembled an attention-grabbing lineup of garage- and basement-dwelling royalty, alternative underground chatter, (far) left-field experimenters in noise, electronic and metal and a band that’s contributed music to a “Nazi skinhead label.”

While the through-line at times was a bit tricky to follow (pure noise, vocal grunts and loops, black metal sorcery, slacker punk and gloomy synth spirit), the three-day festival’s overall sentiment seemed fueled by the hard-held DIY and independent attitude of booker Graeme Flegenheimer, who ran into legal problems last year with his Church on York but is carrying on: “Fuck it, this is what I like and this is what I’m booking.”

An international roster spanning Denmark, England, Spain, Australia and more kept things interesting as sets from larger-drawing darlings like Thee Oh Sees, White Lung and Fucked Up provided some ground cover for those shelling out $125 for last-minute weekend passes. Lovely and noteworthy reunions alongside rare appearances dotted the weekend, with Dead Moon, Royal Trux, No Hope for the Kids and Slægt to name a few. Other notable highlights included: Downtown Boy’s entire set; Antwon getting a room of punks to move — just a little — to classic R&B and pop samples; ex-Dirty Beacher Alex Zhang Hungtai playing sax with Destruction Unit; Harassor’s white face paint and blood getup; first dibs at the Big Love table of goodies all the way from Tokyo; New York duo Uniform’s blend of blistering post-punk industrialism; Lust for Youth’s day-glo dance party; $9 PBRs (just kidding); and Civilized’s head-bleeding (no, really) assault.

Photos and recap by Matt Draper