Bands: Fat Creeps, Thick Shakes, Royal Wedding, TRiPLE ThiCK
Date: Saturday, July 7, 2012
Venue: Precinct (Somerville, MA)

Act One: Fat Creeps – Following an introduction from Tim Cushing of Bundles of Joy (a Dazed and Confused movie reference), the Fat Creeps emerged on-stage. Tonight — more so than the other Fat Creeps performances I’ve witnessed –there seems to be a greater audience appreciation for the band. I could tell from the various people dancing, the joyous clapping at the end of each song, and stuff like that. The Fat Creeps have dedicated fans and for that we can thank the group’s musical ingenuity. They opened the set with a cover of “Sex Beat” before diving into their own original greats and another cover, Devo’s “Gates of Steel”. The band was in tip-top form. Not sure if I’m the only one who noticed, but Jim seemed to be bashing the shit out of the drums harder than ever (as witnessed by his broken stick during closer “Horoscope”), Gracie’s guitar effects/playing were louder and generally more amazing (most especially on “Leave Her Alone”) as were her vocals and harmony with Mariam on “700 Parts,” which to my excitement will be coming to the masses in some recorded form soon. I’d say one of the many fine moments of a Fat Creeps show is “Cherry,” which has a groovy bass line and cool/different vocals! Check out the new video for that. I’m convinced that Fat Creeps are the most intriguing band I’ve heard in the past six months or so. It’s fascinating because all of their songs stick out and make a lasting impression in a less-is-more kind of way that’s hard not to love.

Act Two: Thick Shakes – The last time I saw the Thick Shakes was February 2011 about six feet underground in a hazy basement setting – the Dirty Douglas of Lowell. I don’t remember much from that night, but I surely recall the Thick Shakes energy. Their rock and roll attack is a frenetic blend of blasted organ, crazy rhythym, and sustained fun. Members of the crowd sure seemed to appreciate what was going on before their eyes as they reacted with unrelenting head bobbing and creative dance moves. The Shakes themselves were most surely into it as well. They played a couple of brand new tunes — some of which appear on the just released cassette French Dyppe (Aurora 7 Records). They won me over during their set and I’d say that was the case for a lot of folks…if they weren’t already won over!

Act Three: Royal Wedding – If I’m sticking with the superlative route of describing this show, I might as well say that Royal Wedding was the most psychedelic. The guys battled through the elements (a malfunctioning bass head) in the way of delivering music for our curious selves. Vocals were full of reverb, guitar full of effects, and the end result was similar to a possessed take on rockabilly and old time rock and roll. I never felt like I knew what the guitarist/singer was about to do and I’ve come to the conclusion that is what made Royal Wedding real likable. I’m not sure I understood more than a few words either; this mystery coupled with the other things I’ve said makes it cool to imagine Royal Wedding as a futuristic band that’s come to let everyone know that the possibilities of rock and roll are far-reaching and not something that can easily be grasped or judged.

Act Four: TRiPLE ThiCK – We weren’t able to catch ’em, unfortunately. Here is a link to their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/triplethickband