Resident Aliens

Shem Creeps always bring a positive attitude, professionalism, and a party! They are fun, engaging, and truly love what they do. I have always had a blast working with them.

Donald Hale
Radar, Knight Booking/Trolley Pub
House Sound Engineer - Donald Hale, House Sound Engineer

Shem Creeps is one of my favorite bands. High energy, and a unique feel, they stand out in a crowd. True professionals at their craft, and they really make you move! - Sean Kerr, promoter, videographer

SUMMERVILLE — On a Friday night just before midnight, dozens of punk rockers thrashed to the music inside a pub located in a strip mall.

In front of two pool tables and a row of high-top dining tables, a crowd formed while local band Shem Creeps performed, highlighted by singer Devin Dukes’ screeching vocals and pent-up stage presence. As he wailed into the microphone, one tattooed, shirtless dancer sweated and fist-pumped toward the ceiling.
***Follow the url for the article. - Charleston Post Courier

Frontman Devin Dukes and his punk band, Shem Creeps, aren’t pretending to be straight-edge or even teenage punks ready to burn down the building. They already did that in the ’80s.

The band will relive those glory days at two showcases featuring South Carolina punk bands, which begins with Charleston Punk Night at the Music Farm on June 10. Dukes curated the lineup of the 33’s, Anergy, Shem Creeps and Soda City Riot. Shem Creeps reconvenes June 18 at the Tin Roof to open for Bedlam Hour, a now-reunited staple of the Southeast punk scene that disbanded more than 25 years ago.

“Bedlam Hour was the standard for punk rock and hardcore,” Dukes recalled. Around the time the band dissolved, the mainstream popularity of ska and pop-punk diluted the scene. Once going to a punk show felt safe, the edge was lost.

Still, Dukes said the goal isn’t to recreate the violent mosh pits of the ’80s. After all, he and Shem Creeps co-leader Stephen Hunt are in their mid 50s. But that doesn’t mean a band with gray hair and hip replacements can’t rage.

“The kids might scoff at first, but then we start playing,” Dukes said laughing.

Shem Creeps, rounded out by brothers Zach and Aaron Roetling on bass and drums, calls its sound “funcore.” The lyrics on Let’s See If Anyone Buys This, the band’s six-song EP released earlier this year, fit that bill.

“Wavestorm” is a cheeky ode to Costco soft-top surfboards, while “Lil’ Baby Mosh” imagines a nursery of toddlers pumping their heads and throwing elbows. It’s another reaction to the commoditization of the punk ethos.

“Parents would have lost their mind back in the day if a little kid wore a Misfits shirt,” Duke said. “Now you see these tiny kids with faux hawks — it’s considered cool.”

“BBQ Is Killing America” plays like a true straight-edge song, calling out the meat industry as the leading cause of climate change while name-dropping local BBQ joints as “killing America.” It’s a serious message with truth behind it, but also it’s intended as a joke, the band said.

“I was plant-based for a while, but it was unsustainable for me,” Dukes said. “I’m a humongous fan of hardcore bands like Youth of Today, Judge and Gorilla Biscuits, but straight-edge is kind of like the Krishna people; they set an example that’s just too hard.”

Before forming Shem Creeps, Dukes led a punk Grateful Dead cover band called Wake of the Blood. “No guitar solos and no song over three minutes, except ‘Terrapin Station,’ which we got through in four-and-a-half [minutes],” he said. “It was a challenge. Nobody got it.”

He and guitarist Hunt also led Building Fund, a punk take on Southern Baptist hymns. After another tongue-in-cheek cover band endeavor burned out, the two of them founded Shem Creeps, and Dukes shifted to writing original lyrics with a comedic bent.

“Having fun covers a lot more ground with people,” Dukes said. “They want to hear something clever.” - The Charleston City Paper