Despite bone-freezing weather last Thursday, Test Patterns, Impose.tv’s new monthly party, filled Don Pedro’s with a warm punk-rock glow. Currently little more than a page of video clips linked off the main site of the music nerd webzine, its editors are hoping to expand the project into its own site. Part of expansion is letting people know you exist, and what better way to do that than with a cheap, boozy, raucous Thursday night show? There is none. The first thing I noticed about Don Pedro’s was its extremely generous happy hour: $2 well drinks and beers until 10.That’s just crazy! Once everyone was good and sauced, the dudes in Michael Jordan set up drums all over the floor, took off their shirts and pounded out a short set of yell-filled noise rock with just enough pop structure to keep my brain from shutting down as I swayed back and forth.
Next up were The Beets, who were a lot fuzzier than I remembered them having been at Goodbye Blue Monday last summer. A conceptual cousin to the shoegaze-garage-pop of Vivian Girls, they apply layers of reverb and psychedelic swirl to 1950s chord progressions, creating songs both catchy and complex. As an added bonus, all three band members rock the kind of adorable nerdcore style that makes me want to start saving up for our children’s Ivy League educations.
The main act, Golden Triangle, blew the roof off an already-excited room.This band, too, has changed significantly in the past year. The last time I saw them, the group reminded me of early riot grrrl mixed with art rock, but that’s been supplanted by overtones of soul and psychedelia.
In matching sparkly dresses, they spit out equal parts ‘60s blues rock, ‘70s punk and ‘80s shoegaze, with impressively fucked-up guitars that sounded more like distorted synths.
“This song’s called ‘Number One Hit,’” the band announced and then proceeded to play the catchiest of the bunch.A self-fulfilling prophecy? Perhaps. A lot of fun to dance to? For sure.
