A pretty nicely packed house nearly filled the Rock'n'Roll Hotel, the finest club in Northeast DC (which isn't saying much if you know the Northeast, although I really enjoy this little two block area of H street).
The Strange Boys began things with a 2-guitar, one voice jangly garage pop-psyche sound. They even covered a Nugget (I think it was Baby, Please Don't Go by the Amboy Dukes). They were a young band from Austin Texas. I thought the vocals were more Meat Puppets than Standells, but an adequate opener made a nice start to the evening.
Their touring partners, Darker My Love, were up next. They were a five piece with keys, two guitars, basic rhythm and two axemen singing. Also in the psychedelic genre, but more of a driving sound that was somewhat in the direction of Spiritualized/Spaceman 3. Really good songs, although a couple toward the end had me daydreaming a bit until their rousing closer. Very good set.
No psychedelia next with Sweden's Love is All. Do you remember the days where punk and new wave blended together into less definable categories? This band hearkened back to that era with its very snappy, jangly danceable pop-punk. The female vocals were a bit like Toyah Wilcox or a slightly lighter Pauline Murray (Penetration). The band had drums/bass/guitar with keyboards and a saxophonist making some great simple tonal thrusts as opposed to heavy soloing. Lots of energy and infectious. Great music and a great Rosemary('s Baby) haircut as a bonus.
Oddity of the Night: Leaving the club at about 12:50am, I walked passed four adult bananas walking the other way. One of them was smoking and I didn't pick up much of their conversation as it was cold and I wanted to get to my car.
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