[Atlanta, GA] I had never heard a lick of music from this band before the show but it was love at first sight – everyone else I ran into before this show had seen them like 5 times and had stories about spitting on the crowd, spitting into each others’ mouths, and kissing each other – I didn’t see any of that but they did have tribal drums, tight jangle pop guitar, and a punk ethic – some spaghetti western and even hints of O’Death – bit of psychedelia – some surf rock – they were pretty much The Strange Boys (local) perfected – like being in a Robert Rodriguez movie – some of their songs were more rowdy pop punk (like Redd Kross, as Rockboy pointed out) – the building was so moved that the Emo’s employee who was trying to stop the crowd surfers ended up giving up and jumping in himself

can\”t go wrong blending surf into punk

seemed like they were going to be good with their bouncy drums and jangly guitars but just got boring, had the feeling of a cover band, 60s

this is not who played (Carousel Lounge!), was a lone middle-aged cowboy with a posse of three young girls and more of a moody rock aura than country, struck me as a singer/songwriter whose songs you know are good if only he had a band backing him and somebody who could sing except that he could sing, he had an unimposing scruffy whining voice, especially liked him because he incorporated so many sounds: jazz, country, swing, rock, gypsy, surf, his rebel songs were kind of embarrassing because I just didn’t buy it

rockabilly outfit from Santa Cruz, good but so much the same I think the time has come for me and this genre to part ways, did have one good surf guitar song, singer verged between social critique and ignorant obnoxiousness, spit at small crowd and tossed his drumstick at Rockboy but all in good fun you know , covered Stray Cats which confirmed their tired sameness in my book, highlight of the show was a fight between a girl in a polka-dotted dress and a girl with pink hair that matched her pink frothy dress

my disdain for genre/band is less an accurate perception and more a result of personal events that evening, Chop Tops is a good band

They’re from Phoenix and were in town for South by Southwest. Surf with a Nick Cave voice (at times). Bit rockabilly. Nice measured intensity. Sample lyric: “if you’re young and female you’re likely to get balled” at my shack. A touch misogynistic. They lack finish, especially in the vocals — definitely rooted in punk. Another sample lyric: “kill kill kill for the thrill thrill thrill, thrust thrust thrust for the lust lust lust.”

fantastic dark country, noodling like a spaghetti western, actually casting long shadows on the wall behind them, no vocals, prog to me but surf guitar to Rockboy, really liked them

really enjoyed analyzing surf punk, it’s jam music that closes the loop, it’s infectious and upbeat, it’s a specific small genre and it’s much more than that nu-nu-nu-nuuu-nu-nu-nu-nu, how can they take themselves seriously despite all that?