BEST BEHAVIOR KICKED OFF THEIR PIANOS RESIDENCY

The wild boys of the Brooklyn band Best Behavior kicked off their February residency of the East Village bar, restaurant, and venue Pianos with a glorious group show as well as also happening to land on the band’s guitarist Jon Mann’s birthday for an extra layer of jubilation. For such a night drinks were shared and spilled, hugs were huge and sweaty, and heads were banged with everyone seeming to have a smile on their face throughout.

Brooklyn’s driving fuzz rockers The Rizzos were up first and emphasized to me why I should see and listen to this band more. They remind me of a more youthful and punky Breeders or Muffs, while blending a garage rock rawness, some 60’s psych, 90’s riot girl punk ‘tude, and some heavy drum-driven and smoothly harmony-delivered power pop. Plus, their album from last year Worse Things kicks so much ass, it should be illegal.

The Rizzos

The next band Stuyedeyed was the only one of the night’s lineup I had not seen before, and they definitely impressed with a lush psych rock sound reminiscent of a down-and-dirty Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath party-band. Yet, they will rock your soul with a lush sense of rebellion and a lot of musicians, a great deal of instruments, and plenty of power.

Stuyedeyed

Then it was time to bring out the bad boys of Best Behavior. They are only a couple years old yet they certainly don’t sound it. Also, they just released their debut album Good Luck Karma last year, but they already seem to be gaining some serious steam. They mix surf, punk, and garage rock in a clear and furious way, like seeing the Kinks with Dick Dale guesting in and then jumping into a DeLorean to see a Wavves/Thee Oh Sees double bill today. They bounce around stage like a Tigger on crack as the roar of reverb-soaked guitars blow you over into a state of total bliss.

Best Behavior

After that revelry, Desert Sharks came out to woo the audience with some solid hook-driven rock with twinges of 60’s surf pop, 50’s doo-wop, and 70’s glam. Their music has a hard jamming edge, but vocalist and bassist Stephanie Gunther has some surprisingly vulnerable and exposed aspects to her lyrics among some very tasty party-hearty licks. They had some new material to play too, so I’m looking forward to hearing where they’ll take us to next. Soon after, I did have to leave to catch up with a friend in Brooklyn, so I didn’t get to catch a new local supergroup called the Junk Boys with members of The Yin Yangs, MPHO, and The Men who finished out the show, but I know I’ll be seeing them at two shows in the next month, so I look forward being savaged by them soon as well.