Two heavyweights, one representing the East Coast, one representing the West, will stage a 'Battle of the Blasts' at the Knitting Factory. Who will be victorious in this sludgy punk fest? Why, you of course. But you have to be in it to win it. So go see Big Business and Panthers. L.A.'s Big Business are a brutal and hard-hitting duo that features Coady Willis of Murder City Devils/Dead Low Tide fame on drums and screams, and Jared Warren of Karp on bass. Both Willis and Warren have also been recent additions to the legendary Melvins band.

The band's extremely heavy sound represents stellar sludge-metal in all of its muddled glory. They're sludgy because of that gritty and guttural bass distortion they live and die by, and they're metal because, well, those bottomless bass riffs just straight-up rock. There are no guitars in this band, as they don't need them to sound extremely loud.

Big Business are signed on to Hydrahead records (one of my favorites), home to the similarly sludgy Jesu and the more metal Pelican. Yowza.

Panthers roar. A band with style and substance, Brooklyn super-group Panthers features members of Orchid, Turing Machine , and The Red Scare. Mixing punk and politics, Panthers earn their name by preying on and distressing the intolerant with their angsty and aggressive socially conscious worldview.

The MC5 of 2004, and armed with liner note political manifestos, Panthers have shared the stage with bands like Black Dice, The Rapture, Liars and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. They will stalk you, rock your body, and reform your mind. Rage Against the Machine's got nothing on these guys.

Get ready to watch a knocked-down dragged-out fight where no one (except maybe your ears) gets hurt.

Big Business and Panthers play Knitting Factory, on Tuesday, June 19th.