If someone had told me in 1995 that Pop-Punk would remain a vital genre of music, continuing to strike a chord with young people 30 years later, I wouldn’t have believed them. But my Thursday Night out at Brick & Mortar Music Hall showed me that the younger generation not only really connects to this genre, but might be doing it far better than Gen X did.
Sunnyvale’s (the city I was born in!) StrateJacket opened the show. They are clearly very young and very motivated to be the best band they can be. They have solid chops, and the three of them seem to be entirely in sync throughout the show. Musically? Well, they seem to be still trying to find their identity, as most of their set felt very much like American Idiot-era Green Day. This is not a bad thing – everyone needs to start somewhere, and if your starting point is one of the finest major label rock records of the Bush era, you’ve got a good foundation to stand on. I want to see how this band evolves over the next few years. The harmonies and song arrangements sound like a band that is unafraid to push itself and break stuff along the way.
The buzz around Tess & The Details has been building steadily over the past few years, yet I keep missing them. I will admit that I often struggle to make it out to see local bands that gig regularly, and usually it takes a support slot to make it happen. Please don’t make my mistake, as the band’s live set is bonkers. Tess Stevens is a force to be reckoned with- she’s got a potent voice, an intensely animated face, and knows how to carry an audience on the emotional rollercoaster that is a live rock n’ roll show. Lead guitar player Dustin Galecki is the perfect pop-punk lead guitar player, able to break into technically challenging leads on a dime, while not being afraid of (or too good to) dumb it down when that’s what the song needs. They even pulled out a faithful cover of The Darkness’ “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” that managed to encapsulate the humor and energy of the original while casting it as their own.
God bless Winona Fighter. Continuing the long-standing tradition of pop-punk bands incorporating Wynona Ryder puns into their band names (Who else is old enough to remember The Wynona Riders?) With two Bay Area acts opening, they opted to take the stage to a classic Bay Area anthem, “Epic” by Faith No More, before jumping into the song that introduced me to the band, “You Look Like A Drunk Phoebe Bridgers.” It’s a brilliant song title that hides and leads you to a very different, unexpectedly intense story.
This was Winona Fighter’s first visit to SF, and you wouldn’t have known it from the crowd. Folks danced and sang along to every single note. Lead singer Coco Kinnon is a frantic beast of a performer, rarely staying put for long, even when she is holding her guitar. Brick & Mortar’s small stage could barely contain her, let alone the entire band. She also knew how to work up a crowd with just her words, telling stories, openly discussing her frustration with the political state of things, and she brought in and brought forward to most excited audience members. She even managed to persuade the usually subdued SF crowd into a full-on circle pit.
At one point, a particularly drunk old man started taunting the band. Kinnon threatened to leave, but, instead, the pit turned into a mass ejection, pushing the asshole into the arms of security, and made to leave. We enjoyed are full show, and the whole thing ended with their breakthrough single, “HAMMS IN A GLASS” with the entire crowd screaming together “I’m a little stressed out, just a little stressed out. IS ANYONE ELSE STRESSED OUT?” and it was just perfect.
