To a barely crowded room, Philly three-piece outfit Western Dresses poured out a cacophony of unpretentious lo-fi and percussive nonchalance. Definitively D.I.Y, lead vocalist TJ Borek’s lyrical disposition possessed a blog-esque, rant-like quality, chronicling the intimate aftermath of romance and relationships. A bit amateurish but with a tenacious ingenuity, Western Dresses’ set ended in a frenzy of explosive sound juxtaposed with vocal subtlety, leaving the stage to fellow Philadelphians Mercury Radio Theater.
Backed by a white projection screen, former openers for acts like the Dead Milkmen, Mercury Radio Theater, turned out a series of dramatic punk-surf instrumentals for the Necktie’s growing audience. To the backdrop of an eerie tale shown as a slideshow depicting the story of a lonely boy, his pet monster, and their enemies, Mercury Radio Theater triumphantly chugged through their set, shredding out stellar riffs between brief but funny onstage banter directed to the crowd. With remarks like “It’s weird to be out of breath when you’re an instrumental band” and “I only watch movies with boobs and explosions,” by guitarist Buddy Buddy, the band beguiled and amazed in both song and quip. When the odd and gothy tale had played out from beginning to bloody end, MRT’s set came to a close despite fervent pleas for an encore from their attentive audience.
Decked out in matching black jumpsuits adorned with one-liners like “I’m So Tired,” and “The Future Calls,” the Cincinnati rockers with a superfruit namesake promptly set up their gear and plunged into “Everybody, Come Outside!”. Making the most of the art-pop aesthetic, Pomegranates lead Joey Cook crooned into a megaphone while pounding out chords on his keyboard, all the while being backed by his equally enthusiastic bandmates. “Tesseract,” led into the new wave meets surf-pop “Thunder Meadow.” Combining sweet melodics with a post-mod deliverance, “Thunder Meadow” possessed the perfect percentage of young reckless abandon and musical precision, meshing the band’s energy and skill into an all encompassing creative state of bliss. The new and endearing “Sleepover” brought to mind Vampire Weekend’s tropic beats, but without feeling like a rip-off of rhythm and rhyme. Isaac Karns shout-out back up vocals alongside Cook’s dreamy utterance of “The Ides of March” premised the equally rad “Corriander.” Swapping instruments almost every other song, Pomegranates amply displayed their chops and instrumental elasticity. Karns took lead with “In the Kitchen,” while the band’s lost-in-the-moment drummer Jacob Merritt kept the beat with both eyes closed. An altogether mellow but soaring anthem befitting of summer dusks and a latter son in their set, “In the Kitchen” gave way to “Prouncer,” followed by the post-punk and harmonic “Appreciations.” Ending with a shout out to the oceans of the globe with the catchy “the Southern Ocean,” the four-piece thanked the crowd and called it quits for the night.
