Punk Night Returns to the Pub
It Hurts to Be Dead headlines with two promising punk acts in support
Wichita Falls punk legends It Hurts to Be Dead brought their energetic show back to the Iron Horse Pub after an extended absence, during which they’ve been playing both on the road and in other local venues. On this particular occasion, Valentines Night, 2025, they brought two promising punk bands along for the ride, and it made for one incredible night.
It Hurts to Be Dead played their audience favorites and a number of ours, too, including This Writer Will Self Destruct and Mollie Marie, and we got a preview of at least one new, still-unrecorded track from the band, too. We had a brief chat with synth-wizard Polly Pocket before the show, and she confirmed that the band is working on some new music. We’re looking forward to hearing that.
It Hurts to Be Dead chose a couple of great punk bands to accompany them on this bill, chief among them, Denton’s amazing Hen and the Cocks.
Hen and the Cocks is an outstanding, vibrant, frenetic punk band led by vocalist and frontwoman Jo Henkel. From the very opening notes, she was all over the stage, prancing and preening and making life easy for any photographer in attendance.
Jo is an incredibly expressive vocalist who, when complimented by her band (made up of guitarist Blake Coutee, bassist Ryan Kerns, and powerhouse drummer Trent Jones) brought to mind correlations with 80s and 90s bands like L7 and The Donnas. Our friend Lelani (Escape Goats, Jagged Little Band) was in attendance and commented that Hen and the Cocks were “like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs times ten.”
The opening act for this show was another that had never played The Iron Horse before, The Cobra Coughs. They were also a very good punk band, although they were not at full-strength because their guitarist left two days before the show. Nevertheless, their fill-in guitarist did an admirable job on only two days’ rehearsal time, and we’re looking forward to seeing them again.
Have you seen these bands perform? Tell us about it in the comments.
