In our Best of Rock issue, we ran a photo essay about Baltimore’s awesome music scene. You may have noticed a picture of a dude in a crazy-looking black-and-white shirt and thought to yourself, "Why the hell does that guy have a microphone cord wrapped around his face?" When I first looked at it, I shrugged him off as some weirdo art-school dropout who probably fronts a so-so glam-rock band. Turns out he’s in this kick ass hardcore group called Double Dagger — and I was lucky enough to randomly catch this noisy bass-drums-vocals trio when they opened for my friend’s band last weekend at the Rock & Roll Hotel in Washington D.C.

On top of practically choking himself with said cord during the show, singer Nolen Strals would often leap into the crowd mid-song, shouting his politically-charged lyrics in the faces of the lucky few who showed up. (A couple of teen punks — accompanied by parents — got so riled up by Double Dagger's frenzied tunes, they started moshing.) The set was short, sweet and skull-fuckingly loud. Anyways, these dudes have a MySpace page, which features the raging jam "Luxury Condos for the Poor." (Great song title, no?) Or check 'em out live — they're on tour now. Better yet: buy their CD. It’s the best ten bucks I’ve spent in a while.