Thursday’s sort was a successive lineup of three bands playing at the UniBar. The problem is that O-Fest has it’s spectacle located outside UniBar, music and play around the duck pond and such, and club stalls circling the whole library-cafeteria-jugglers-lawn perimeter; if anyone was to be at UniBar, it was probably because something loud and fantastic was happening.
And oh boy was it loud and strangely fantastic. The first band was a five-piece called Streless (Stressless?). I wasn’t too sure but their lackadaisical stoner-boy attitude had me cackling. An empty UniBar and a lonely music reviewer awkwardly sitting with his notebook at the back: “Any requests?” they say, “Get some people in here!” and I spilt my beer. Don’t care mates, they just launched into the type of cool surf-rock ‘Gong vibes I was hoping for. A punk twist on otherwise lame sounds, the band’s attitude was cool and their shirts over-sized, but the real standout was the lead vocal’s take on a kind of aloof Strokes-esque deadpan delivery that just had me vibin’ to the effortlessness of life lived in these songs. That was the hook but the sinker for me was the guy on lead guitar. All well and good verse-chorus but the bridges here exploded into either something just boppin’ or straight up . . . glam-rock? I dunno but people were beginning to notice and hang around what was loud and fantastic.
Next up was a seven-piece called Autumn Sunset, and my head was spinnin’ when I saw folk come out with the brass. These two were starting early while the rest were setting up, trumpet and saxophone (technically woodwind) soloing over the fucking intermission music like punkish IDGAF pros on a flight of musical psychosis. Eventually the whole band dove into a theatrical opening groove w/ the trumpet standing out, like literally standing out into the mosh and then dancing and circling everyone like it was some esoteric musical ritual to witness so many dizzying sounds at once and in your face before the singer came in to keep it cool with her low rasp reminiscent of a New Yorky Jazz air. With this band, each player was allowed to stand out with drums popping off into funk grooves that lent to the fuzzy slap-bass and warbly guitar. Their stunning single ‘Tangerine’ embodied the band’s ethos: genre bending to the funnest degree, stomping heavy drums into funky verses into punky chorus into a rocking trumpet solo that sounds like it should be on lead guitar but isn’t. By the end of their set a crowd was formed for damn good reason.
Lastly was a five-piece called Echidnacia. These boys took it a step-down, like literally whole steps down into bluesy hard rock that I’m surprised so many people were here for because it’s not the vibe I expected would go off but did go off with the crowd at its fullest yet. Stomping drums and charging guitar riffs straight from the 70s, forward and simple, I wasn’t sure at first but I found myself totally rockin’ to this no fucks given attitude somehow more punk than punk. I have to give a shoutout to the bassist for incredibly off but nuanced bass lines that I couldn’t tell if I liked until I found myself headbanging into the table. The band mixed it up like fine cocktail with groovy pop-rockers and faster bops, and I lost my shit when the vocalist pulled out a kazoo for the last song. All in all, these guys somehow brought the unflappable vibe of the surfpunk dudes back to rock music itself. It makes me wonder if the ‘Gong’s gonna be the site of a trail blazing rock revival scene. Don’t let time tell, pick up an instrument and try yourself, and the music will say: what more is there for these times?
Feature Image: Echidnacia