(Crystal Antlers)

(Crystal Antlers)

Noisy (yet melodic) rock and roll was on full display Monday night for the small crowd that gathered at the Triple Rock Social Club. Led by buzz band headliners Crystal Antlers, and supported by local groups Building Better Bombs and His Mischief, the show was successful in displaying some different, but equally piquant, bands takes on rock and roll music. Crystal Antlers played a break-neck set Monday night, showing that the buzz surrounding the band is warranted—you know things are getting good when a string is broken… on a bass… on the second song of the set.

(Crystal Antlers)

(Crystal Antlers)

The six piece band (two guitars, bass, drums, auxiliary percussion and organ) sounded massive as they pummeled the crowd with their noisy take on psychedelic and garage rock. Lead singer and bass player Johnny Bell howled through their 50 minute set that featured some of the great songs from their debut EP and their recently released debut album Tentacles. The organs and guitars clashed as the band, who sounded like the Mars Volta playing the Nuggets catalog, pounded through their highly energetic set. While the crowd was sparse, the band did not lack enthusiasm, especially the bongo/cymbal player, who identified himself as “Sexual Chocolate” when he got a hold of the mic during one break in the set.

(Crystal Antlers)

(Crystal Antlers)

Bell wasn’t a man of many words, and when he did attempt stage banter, introducing the band with the dry humor joke of “We are Swine Flu from Mexico City,” it didn’t exactly bring the house down. Luckily Bell’s singing was much more commanding than his joke telling. His throat-shredding howels ended up being a little low in the mix for my taste, but when his vocals made it above the hurricane of noise from the band, you could hear his strong and unique delivery. Live, Bell sounded like a more intense version of the vocal stylings of the singers in Dr. Dog. After a blistering 40 minute set, the band was cajoled back on stage for an encore with a hard to resist offer of $3 from a member of the crowd.

(Crystal Antlers)

(Crystal Antlers)

(Crystal Antlers)

While I am generally something of a curmudgeon when it comes to encores, being coaxed back on stage for money is something that I can fall in line with. After spending most of set trying to figure out which songs they were playing through the wall of noise, a strange thing happened during the second song of the encore (which also served as the final song of the evening). The delivery was less abrasive and Bell’s voice became clearer, and the words started to sound familiar. It took a few seconds, but then I realized they were playing the Bob Dylan classic “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” which was a strange twist to say the least. After spending the whole set pummeling the crowd with their high voltage rock and roll, the band decided to show their versatility at the end of the set and ended their set with a great reading of a truly classic song.

(Building Better Bombs)

(Building Better Bombs)

(Building Better Bombs)

(Building Better Bombs)

The two opening band were both bands from Minneapolis and seemed picked to split the difference between the main genres that the headliners represented. First up were Building Better Bombs, who used effect pedals and some pulsing layers of noise to get the crowd moving with their droning screamo/hardcore/punk sound. The band, co-fronted by Stef Alexander (P.O.S.), leaned more towards the more avant garde, abrasive side of the spectrum and played a engaging and entertaining set to start the night.

(His Mischief)

(His Mischief)

The second band of the night were His Mischief, who had spent the previous few days on tour with Crystal Antlers on their Midwest tour. The three piece band play pretty straightforward blues garage rock and shows their boundless energy during their 40 minute set that helped to build the anticipation for the Crystal Antlers to hit the stage. Like on their recently released debut album The Perfect Lover, the band started with the herky jerky garage stomper “Freaks up Front” and never looked back.

[Review by Josh Keller, photos by Jon Behm]

Crystal Antlers: Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
Building Better Bombs: Official | MySpace
His Mischief: Official | MySpace

Also: Culture Bully Approved – Crystal Antlers @ Triple Rock Social Club Tonight