Sunday opened up with the ‘70s AM radio-like tunes of Chicago’s Smith Westerns, and the band’s sunny, sometimes soothing music seemed to rejuvenate those still afflicted by the debauchery of the night before. There’s a slight chance no one onstage took part in any similar depravity, however, since everyone in the band is under the age of 21. And that fact makes their music even more remarkable – these are basically teenagers creating super-catchy garage rock that doesn't feel cookie-cutter, by any means.
At times, lead singer Cullen Omori’s vocals sounded a bit too achey, but at others, he came off just like Robert Smith. Those vocals acted as an interesting foil to guitarist Max Kakacek’s strong and ever-changing rhythms, especially when the riffs mimicked ‘80s hair metal. Kakacek's playing was especially charging in “Weekend;” a song in which he used steady glam-drops to steal Omori’s thunder every time the frontman took a break from singing.
The last song of the set was the real scene stealer that started with a blues drudge and rolled into a slow-movin’ love ballad. I’m still trying to figure out what the name of that song was, so if anyone happened to be there and knows what it was, please deposit the answer below. Thanks.
