My feet still hurt a lot from Tuesday, so I decided to try a new strategy: pick a showcase that looks decent and stay there all night. You're guaranteed see at least a couple of good bands that way, with a chance that the ones you haven't heard of will be good too. I arrived at Glasslands in time to catch the tail end of Darlings' set, which was a shame because what I heard of them was noisy, exuberant garage rock with boy-girl harmonies and catchy fucking melodies. A , would see again.
Next, Hot Lava, who kept reminding us that they were from Virginia, played some pleasant, folksy rock with extra folksy touches like a clarinet and a kick drum made out of a suitcase. The female singer had a clear, chirpy voice, and at their best moments they were moody but subdued, like a fading photograph that's tinted sepia.
Boogie Boarder totally rocked my world with their unclassifiable meandering jams. I think they're a bit like an all-dude version of Ponytail in that they seem most interested in seeing how many different kinds of noises they can make in one song. And because they are cool, unpretentious dudes (they named their album "Pizza Hero" for fuck’s sake), the noises come out fun and playful instead of being a serious ordeal to sit through and pretend you're smart enough to like. Simple, almost childlike motifs built to crashing, dissonant crescendos punctuated occasionally by some off-kilter vocals. When "singer" William Meismer screamed (as he did at random intervals), I got the sense he was screaming not out of angst, but because screaming is a fun thing to do with your voice sometimes. Try it and you'll see.
Mussels were sort of a letdown after all that awesome but still made a decent showing, though it seems like they're not quite sure yet what they want to be. Sometimes the sound was big and dense, reminding me of mussels waving around under the ocean as waves crashed over them. Sometimes that density gave way to tinkling guitar harmonies and Modest Mouse style ‘90s indie rock. Those were the parts that I liked. There was also some definite shredding going on, which was ok but they need to rein it in a little, and sometimes it veered a little too far into modern rock territory, bringing back memories of countless nights spent enduring aural torture in "rock" clubs when I lived in Connecticut. I want Mussels to be a Good Band, and I think they could be if they cut out the bad parts. Then I can say I discovered them and become their greatest champion. I want this to happen, Mussels. The choice is yours.
