This show interested me because it featured a band I'd never encountered before, the Nashville-based trio Cheap Time. The presence on the bill of solid local acts James Plane Wreck and Lakefriend was a nice little bonus.
I got down to the Red Room around 8:15. The crowd started out pretty thin but built to about thirty people. Pretty respectable for a Monday.
Lakefriend's strong opening set built upon the progress that they'd shown at their Flying M gig back in August. Particularly impressive was Jacob Milburn's drumwork; at once more flexible and more solid, it provided the foundation and the ignition for the chugging basslines and for Mason Johnson and Matt Stone's blending, weaving guitars. Their marginally slower tempos just allowed them to show off how assured their groove has become. Very well done.
James Plane Wreck played next and kept the ball rolling. The crowd whooped and hollered as this group's grinding riffs, terse solos, rumbling bass and thunderous drums hit with more concentrated force than ever before (as far as I've heard, anyway). Aaron Smith's rough, charming tenor worked his rough, charming lyrics with increased finesse.
"F*** YEAH!" shouted an audience member at one point.
"Quoth the Raven," Smith quipped back.
Cheap Time closed out the night's music. If the Sex Pistols had tripled their weed intake, they might've sounded a little like these guys: droning riffs, clipped but fluid soloing, slippery basslines, relentless drumming. I didn't catch more than ten words out of their entire set, but I'd be willing to bet that the snotty, can't-be-bothered sneer in Jeffrey Novak's vocals told me all I needed to know anyway (possible giveaway: they named their latest album Wallpaper Music). Luckily, they rawked more than hard enough to purge me of my desire to smack Novak in the face. Songs for the bored, surly malcontent in all of us.
You can find info on these groups on Facebook and elsewhere online. Special thanks to Eric Gilbert and Duck Club Presents.
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