Its Saturday night at the Hopetoun Hotel. Cover is $12 and two of the bands’ names relate to massive explosions. If the music’s decent and loud you know it’s a good night; if all the bands are friendly and half have big hair its going to be a better night. Throw in a cool painting on the wall (by members of Further and I Heart Hiroshima) and The Mummy on the bar TV and you’ve got your money’s worth.
Yes Nukes kick it off with sludgy garage punk. They’ve got shaved hair, they’re annoyed at something, and they compare their song about a motorcycle to Guitar Wolf’s song about a motorcycle. I sense a heavy Japanese theme tonight, but mostly I sense low-fi garage punk, suburban anger and a decent opening act.
Regular John are up next and the room explodes. The room fills up and I start headbanging manically. These guys know their rock and roll—its hard, its fast, and its happy as hell. They photograph well, with three long haired guitarists doing synchronized headbangs and leaps. Flashes start going off and don’t stop for the whole set. Songs? Lyrics? Who needs them? Guitars, pop-rock, and headbanging is where its at. Look for these guys to be the next Hard-Ons once they change their name.
I Heart Hiroshima bring down the energy, but they make up for it with really tight songs. The band pretended to be the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in the YYY’s Cheated Hearts film clip and the musical comparison holds. Rhythmic guitars and shouty female vocals service cute New York art rock and songs like ‘Neutron Popsong’. Current FBi radio hit ‘London in Love’ gets a spin and for the first time in the night we get something that makes you want to buy the EP. Susie Patten drums with a maniac expression and an assortment of cute faces, which almost make up for the lack of synchronized headbanging.
Further were the headliners, but they couldn’t capture the excitement of I Heart Hiroshima or Regular Johns. It was solid melodic punk, but a boring after what came before. No memorable songs, no big hair, and no headbanging grins. Still, the crowd looked satisfied, and I’m sure faithful Further fans loved seeing the band in such a small venue.All in all this was a good Saturday night gig, with young bands to watch, a new band with a rapidly growing fanbase and good songs and balding veterans. It wasn’t completely explosive, but it was definitely worth the $12.
