Dogged by guitar trouble throughout his set, The Lodger battles on with an aggressive guitar style juxtaposing nicely with the tuneful vocal melodies. He attacks his telecaster with passionate aggression, it's Billy Bragg-esque but with a sweeter and softer vocal approach. It's dark, indie-pop, brooding and energetic and it'd be nice to see these songs backed by a full band.The Alamo provide a staple diet of rock. Nothing too flash, the female bass player sternly holds her ground as the singer provides some movement at the mic. The songs are good and played well but there's nothing to jump out at you and really make this band rise above some any of the local rock bands you could go and check out in town. There's energy and life aplenty but the content isn't quite there just yet.
Faces hidden behind black bandannas and wearing matching army print t-shirts, The Detonators unleash a thirty minute assault of pure punk rock and roll. Guitarists move in unison, vocalist Phil Privelidge hops, struts, stalks and sways across the stage as he spits out lyrics over gun shot snare drum beats. With a good body of songs both melodic, rocking and lyrically strong The Detonators have the moves to deliver them with style. The songs themselves generate an energy, fast paced crunching guitars, riffs, stops and starts that make your body move and your heart pound. The band keep up the energy, with some furious drumming and vicious guitar assaults blending with the perfect vocal hooks, combining the power and excitement of the tempo with catchiness of the melody. Anyone who thought their band were good just saw the bar get raised by quite a bit. Jaw dropping.
Hypnotic keyboards and chugging bass provide the backdrop for Noah Brown's menacing performance. Stalking the crowd as sings, this is electronic punk rock dance terrorism. It's unclassifiable, which is a good thing. It's interesting and enjoyable, which is better. It's also quite hard to put into words but the swish and sway of the keyboards above the drum machine beats and deep growl of the bass have a menace of their own for Noah to lay down vocal rants as he stares down the audience. Just go see 'em and discover for yourself.
