Bands: Hunx and His Punx, Hunters, Fagettes
Date: Friday, August 23, 2013
Venue: Brighton Music Hall (Allston, MA)

Fagettes – Fagettes be slaying the stadium settings, first with Middle East Down and now Brighton Music Hall, before you know it they’ll be playing the Garden, and when I go to snag a set list at the end of the show some big ass body guard douches will kick the shit out of me. Until then! I will live to steal more and more Fagettes set lists. I have so many band set lists now, it’s becoming a problem. I have a folder at home and it’s overflowing. You’d think tons of set lists = tons of women by my side. “He likes Fagettes, he likes hip thinking man music, I’m going to sleep with him.”  Some day soon.

Besides the luring of potential babes, there is a far more superior reason for my Fagettes set – list ingest; this quintet fucking rocks! Seriously, one of my favorite bands right now. If you haven’t seen/heard Fagettes, then you’re missing out. Much like the headliner tonight, Fagettes are a fun rock ‘n’ roll band with a fantastic 60’s spirit that is simultaneously 2013 ready. In  other words, they play garage psychish pop, but are still appealing to those that aren’t too familiar with those gritty stylings.

This evening’s set is an adequate mish mash of old and new jams with “Gonna Die Out Here,” being my overall favorite. This song exemplifies what I love about this band: simple, but pummeling drums, groovin’ guitars, slick basslines, and the dual vocals of Ryan and Melanie. The whole band rocks out and the crowd is generally receptive, albeit a little stiff, almost as stiff as my limp dick after too much Johnny Walker, which doesn’t really make any sense. I promised myself I would cut back on phallic (or lack thereof) imagery in my my reviews, ahh well maybe next year.

Anywho, The set reaches its finale with Fagettes classic “I Wanna Feel Good,” in which vocalist/guitarist Ryan Major leaps on a stage monitor with mic in hand, shouting the titular lyrics at the Brighton Music Hall attendees in front row; he’s a suave motherfucker, that’s for sure.

Set – List:
“Sleeptalking”
“Bad Catholic”?
“The AA Took My Baby Away”
“Chilly”
“On Drugs”
“My Girl Looks Like Johnny Thunders”
“Street Queens”
“Gonna Die Out Here”
“I Wanna Feel Good”

Do yourself a favor, quit the bullshit and listen to Fagettes RIGHT NOW. Drop everything else and just listen. http://thefagettes.bandcamp.com/

Hunters – Not too familiar with dem Hunters, but from what I can gather aha no pun intended, they are a favorite among many a indie rock enthusiast or so. I’ll be square, I didn’t do my research on this one, but I have heard their name pop up a few times. I am not overly immersed in this performance, but generally entertained. It’s noisy and loud and fun, I can definitely see the attraction. The lead singer keeps her hair below her eyes and appears to be in some sort of trance, that’s pretty cool. The  whole show kind of reminds me of early Deerhunter like Turn It Up Faggot (2005), perhaps a little Cryptograms (2007), if you feel me. Yeah, I think you do.

Set – List:
“Noisey”
“It’s True”
“Thin Twinzzz”
“She’s So”
“Narcissist”
“Undone”
“Deadbeat”
“Nosebleed”

Hunx and His Punx – HUNX AND HIS PIZZZZUNNNXXXXXXX!!!!! Yes, few bands bring out that exaggerated reaction in me, but Hunx is one of them. When Hunx and His Punx are up on stage, I just want to destroy everyone in front of me, everyone’s a pussy, ya know? I just want to mosh and dance and break stuff aka spill pbr all over my shirt and down my legs and crash into the person in front of me. The crowd is a little stiff, Boston crowds tend to be as I noted earlier,  but Hunx is so entertaining that it’s hard not to get excited. After a few songs, the crowd starts to get moving. Ohh shit, I meant to give a little history before I dove into the present. If you don’t give a fuck about my/KLYAM’s history with Hunx, then by all means skip the next paragraph and don’t fucking call me fabulous, bitch.

KLYAM began four years ago, a time when Jay Reatard was at the top of his game, sadly dying shortly thereafter. We were lucky enough to catch Jay three times before he passed away, and one of those shows was particularly special because it featured at least three future KLYAM stars: Nobunny, Box Elders, and none other than Hunx and His Punx! Like the other two, Hunx was unique and in your face, not something you could easily dismiss. I had never heard of the band before, so when I suddenly saw a dude waving his junk in front of my face and pouring beer down his chest, singing songs about his boyfriend not coming back, it left a a lasting impression on me. This same show took place at Harper’s Ferry, which later became and to this day remains Brighton Music Hall.  Four years and three records later, Hunx and His Punx is back and better than ever.

Last year we did have the pleasure of experiencing a Hunx show at Great Scott and that was terrific, you can read about it here: https://klyam.com/2012/04/04/concert-review-hunx-and-his-punx-great-scott-4212/ but this performance packs in a few more punches. Much of this greater exuberance can be attributed to the new sound/style the band has adorned in their current release Street Punk (Hardly Art), an album that is fixing to be KLYAM #1 Album of the Year, but we’ll see about that. Nonetheless, with this new album the band mixes early 80s hardcore (Germs, Misfits, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Jabbers) with their vintage take on 60s pop (doo wop, girl group, garage, bubblegum). Hunx and His Punx are not however a mere retro band, and tonight’s set is further confirmation that they are one of the most dynamic and fine tuned bands in all of rock ‘n’ roll.

Some of my favorite moments tonight is when the bands blasts through the ultra fast new cuts like “Bad Skin,” “Everyone’s A Pussy (Fuck You Dude),” “You Think You’re Tough,” (which feature some of Shannon Shaw’s greatest vocals!), and “Don’t Call Me Fabulous.” Hunx aka Seth Bogart (funny, I haven’t called him by his real name till now) is typically a fiery front man, but he and the band as a whole really take it up a few notches;  his vigorous screaming and body motion reminds me of some of the punk greats like Iggy, Darby, and my favorite Nobunny!  A Nobunny/Hunx tour would be fabulous, oops poor choice of words!

The band is touring behind the aforementioned Street Punk, but they also dish out a fair amount of older material.  Gay Singles classics like my favorite “Cruising” and “Gimmie Gimmie Back Your Love” are some highlights from the set. “Bad Boy,” “The Curse of Being Young,” and “Too Young to Be in Love” are also on dis play, all of which appeared on their 60s girl group themed sophomore effort, Too Young to Be In Love. Hunx busts out the guitar to perform one of my favorite tunes from last year, “Private Room” off his solo record Hairdresser Blues.

Hunx and His Punx’s music speaks for itself, but with a group this glamorous and flashy, there’s bound to be extraneous forms of entertainment at one of their shows. Besides the humorous in between song banter coming from Hunx, some of the venue’s wackier attendees get a little rowdy toward the end of set. At one point two women suck on Hunx’s feet, while another woman drops her top, exposing her bare breasts as she makes her way to the front of the stage, where she proceeds to make out with my partner in crime, KLYAM’s own Glen aka Gangbang Gordon. Naked women are making a come back at KLYAM attended shows I’ve found as of late! To place a perfect image over all this slimy love, Hunx drops his pants and writhes around the stage in his thong and bashes out a stellar version of the slow dance number “Lovers Lane” (Too Young to Be in Love).

Until next time, I’m going to keep on rocking out to Street Punk and I highly recommend you do the same. This is the best song off the new record or at least my favorite.