Two bands from Brooklyn and two bands from Philly converged on Asbury Park last night, bringing a wild evening of Wednesday rock and roll to The Saint. Speak Into My Good Eye, along with The Saint, put together another one of those shows that seemed designed to tick off a few boxes on my own personal wish list. Last night's installment featured Brooklyn's The Men, Philadelphia's Purling Hiss, Philadelphia's Ruby The Hatchet, and Brooklyn's Pampers.
My OCD always has me arriving at shows earlier than I should, and last night was no different. It gave me a chance, though, to enjoy a beverage at the bar and to speak with The Men's Ben Greenberg a bit about the evolution of the band's sound over the course of their last few records. They've gone from noise punk to incorporating a good deal of classic, and even country, rock into their sound; and I was interested to see what the band would do live.
Pampers started things off and impressed with a set of devastatingly loud, left-of-center punk. For most of the set, Pampers' two guitarists only had 11 strings between them; but that didn't seem to slow the band down at all. The crowd was still pretty sparse at this point, but I'm sure the band moved a few LP's as a result of their performance.
Ruby The Hatchet were up next. They're a Philly band that plays our area often. They had quite a few fans in the crowd, but last night was my first chance to see them live. They play a style of blues rock heavily influenced by Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath that had me thinking about my recent outing to see California's Deap Vally.
Next up were Purling Hiss. Following the band's performance as an opener for DEATH at (le) poisson rouge in July, I briefly said hello to frontman / guitarist Mike Polizze and told him that we had to get his band to Asbury Park. The universe (and Speak Into My Good Eye) must have been listening, and I could not have been happier that Purling Hiss were on this bill.
The band did a set heavy on tracks from this year's excellent Water On Mars. Purling Hiss do something similar to bands like Dinosaur Jr. or Screaming Females -- and now even The Men -- bringing some of the hallmarks of classic rock, like the extended guitar solo, to a noisier, more punk-influenced sound. I, obviously, love this and ate it up.
The Men are another one of those bands that I've said I'd love to see play our area. When they took the stage, I have to admit that I wasn't quite sure what to expect. The band have released everything from near-hardcore, gut punch assaults to their recent, all-acoustic Campfire Songs. Last night, they went with a good deal of their harder stuff, saving the acoustic numbers for another day. The crowd seemed happy with the choice.
They ran through a relentless, non-stop set, devoid of any real stage banter, that featured songs from their last two LPs like Open Your Heart's "Turn It Around" and "Open Your Heart" and New Moon's "Electric" and "I Saw Her Face." Following the band's template of not really having a single frontman, bassist Ben Greenberg and guitarists Mike Perro and Nick Chierricozzi each took a turn singing lead. The current version of The Men also features Kevin Faulkner on that most traditional of punk instruments, the lap steel.
In all, it was a great way to spend a chilly, rainy Wednesday evening. Thanks to Speak Into My Good Eye, The Saint, and the universe for granting my wish.
Here are some pictures from last night.
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