Punk rock Wednesday night

show_865_picWhen I was browsing Showlist Austin prior to my trip down to Texas for SXSW, I was seriously disappointed to find out that Sweden’s Masshysteri was playing three times the weekend after I left. I’d loved the Vicious, 3/4 of which are Masshysteri.

Both acts play a pretty garage-y kind of punk that manages to avoids the snottiness and lo-fi aesthetic that plagues most releases from that genre. Masshysteri, especially, has a very clean, direct sound that manages to cut through and just buzzsaw through your skull. Their Monoton Tid single on Feral Ward was a favorite of mine, and I’m kicking myself for not having picked up their full-length yet.

However, my love of the band and corresponding disappointment at not being able to see them in Austin was completely saved by Kelly at Love Garden telling me that he’d booked them for an April 1 gig at the Jackpot here in Lawrence. And, wouldn’t you know it, that’s tonight. And today is payday. And, as if a super-cool show with a great band from far across the Atlantic playing a fifteen-minute walk from my house wasn’t good enough, local purveyors of creepy rock ‘n’ roll the Spook Lights return from their six-month hiatus tonight. They’ll be debuting new tunes, a new keyboard player, and possibly new stuff on which to spend your hard-earned dollars at the Replay right around midnight.

What makes this night absolutely perfect is that you don’t even have to choose between these shows. The Masshysteri show is early, and will be over by midnight, at which point you walk right across the fucking street, pay your measly $2 cover at the Replay, and see Scary Manilow, Curvacia Vavoom, Jet Boy, et al, rock your socks off. You’ll get cold, unfeeling Swedish punk, followed by scary, possibly naked Midwest garage punk. You have no excuse not to double dip. I’ll have photos and a full report tomorrow.

Masshysteri – “Hatkärlek” (from Var Del Av Stan)