Lawrence punk house the Overlook follows in the footsteps of many other storied house venues over the past decade. Like the Pink House, the Pirate House, the Haunted Kitchen and Pizza Party before it, it provides a place for bands to play outside the usual rock-club rotation. But unlike most of its predecessors, the Overlook has figured out a way to prevent noise complaints. Using the insulating properties of a windowless basement, the kids living in the house are able to muffle the inevitable roar of a punk band playing in the acoustical equivalent of a concrete echo chamber. Standing outside the closed storm doors leading underground from the house's back porch, you can't tell if the music playing downstairs was a thrash band from Liechtenstein or a ska-punk act from Brooklyn. And despite the propensity for bands whose sonic output can best be summed up as "frighteningly in-your-face," the guys who live in the house are some of the friendliest music fans in town. You'll make five new friends every time you see a show, and discover a band you won't believe you've never heard.
