The Psyatics & The Tinglerz at the Griffin, Las Vegas, 1-23-13

It's tough getting me out on a weeknight these days, but when two of my favorite local bands play together, I grabbed an extra Mountain Dew, took the next day off of work and headed on down!

I've raved about the Psyatics a number of times already and they just keep getting better every time I see them - a cliche, yes, but true. Although they are simply a three piece, they manage to do a lot with this basic line-up. Jimmy holds down the back beat with truly creative DJ Bonebrake rhythms while Rob throws a slithering bass line on top of that and Jack then adds guitar lines that compliment and sometimes clash - in a good way! Ball pulls a wide variety of tones from his new Epiphone (and adds some computer-generated between-song "banter" from B-Movies, which fit in with their visual style on their posters and videos) and there are punk references, post-punk dissonance, garage riffs and pure rock'n'roll sounds throughout their tunes. Definitely one of the more interestingly different outfits on the scene, though they don't get so hung up on being "different" that they forget to rock! Somehow fitting that drummer Krah was wearing a Church of the Sub Genius t-shirt!

Another terrific local act is the Tinglerz - also a 3 piece who manage to put out a massive sound, propelled by the aptly-named Turbo on drums, Eric speeding up & down his Gibson Grabber bass (not a common one, but used by my first bassist, so I have a soft spot for them!) and crazed Kei literally throttling his guitar while singing and screaming! These cats are pure high-energy punk'n'roll, but they don't forget to add pop hooks to their songs, they're not afraid of minor chords, and they have influences from 60's garage rave-ups to hard core. Sometimes they remind me a bit of Electric Eel Shock in intensity, though I dig the Tinglerz songs more. They got the small crowd up and dancing and even got a rare-for-Las-Vegas encore!

The Griffin's band room is a fairly tiny back bar (unmanned, for some weird reason) with a small, but powerful PA, and no stage lights (hence no photos from the night). A nice, intimate place to see a band, but I wish it wasn't just on Wednesday nights!