CUSSES – Vinyl Mag

On Friday night – well, Saturday morning, really – the Caledonia crowd was treated to some electrifying punk ‘n roll courtesy of Savannah quasi-locals CUSSES. The impossibly loud trio, made up of lead singer Angel, guitarist Bryan, and drummer Brian, played a no-muss-no-fuss set of L.A. glam rock with jagged industrial edges, and as with any good rock show, things got a little weird.

Like I said, these three sure made a racket. Every song saw Bryan headbanging to his axe, Brian’s arms swinging madly at his kit, and Angel convulsing and high-stepping about the stage. Corny as it may seem, the woman has literal moves like Jagger. She kicked and raged around like a punk rock Ke$ha (for the record, I’m positive I’m not the first to make that comparison), perfectly physically conveying the leather clad spunk in their music.

As omnipresent as punk may be at the Caledonia, CUSSES were also able to seamlessly blend their Black Flag influences with metal, hardcore and hair alike. Much of Bryan’s METZ-y riffage unironically drew from hair metal and stadium rock bombast (now would be a good time to mention Angel’s RATT shirt). “I’m Gonna Get You” feels like L.A. in the 1980’s, whereas “The Wait Is Over” sounds like Metallica’s bottom fell out.

But even metal from Georgia dabbles in performance art from time to time, and CUSSES were no exception. There were distortion jams and otherworldly time signatures; there was upside down cymbal playing; and there was a whole lot of intense eye contact. Nothing within five hours of Athens is without its experimental side.

Punk, rock, metal, glam, yada yada yada – the interesting thing about CUSSES was their ability to flirt with all those different genres without plunging into one too obviously. “Hey You” even approached pop at times, blasphemous as that may be, but it was all blended so well, trivial labels simply fell away. In short, CUSSES are like the fidgety ‘problem child’ at an elementary school – they may not seem like they fit into any particular category, and authority figures may be a little freaked out by ’em, but they’re destined to become the cool kid that everyone wants to hang with.

In our Stopover preview, we highlighted a bunch of locals acts worth making a point to check out. A number of them managed to stand out from the pack, even within the mix of touring acts. Cusses, Crazy Bag Lady, and Boy Harsher all pulled decidedly large crowds and delivered truly epic performances. The Furious Hooves label showcase was a hit as well, with fantastic performances from the likes of Black Water Choir, Heavy Boots, and Blackrune. But discounting those acts we’ve already spoken about, here are our top five picks from the weekend… some more expected than others.

The Prettiots

NYC-based all-girl trio The Prettiots play sweet and innocent-sounding art pop tunes about boys and heartbreak. With a drummer that looks straight-up like a baby doll and lead singer Kay Goldberg crooning away with her ukelele, it couldn’t get much sugary and cute, but they do it so damn well. All the members are under 25, and that may account for why Goldberg has such a fresh memory of all the boys that she dated in high school. They played an early evening set at Hang Fire Bar on Friday to a modest crowd, but no doubt these girls have bigger crowds and bigger stages in the near future.

Penicillin Baby

There will always be something to be said for some good rock music. And people will always appreciate it. Take note of Penicillin Baby, an up and coming group out of Nashville that push the boundaries of rock n roll with their fuzzed out psych pop tunes. Their energetic performance at Ampersand Friday evening was as crowded as I’ve ever seen the place, and speaks to the truth of my earlier statement. Grunge rock, surf rock, cosmic rock… call it what you will. We’ll just call it good.

Generationals

With arguably the most hype leading into Stopover weekend, New Orleans electopop duo Generationals put on a fitting showing late Friday night at Club One. The perfect spot for a dance party, this venue is a gay club every other weekend of the year, and boasts an impressive light rig, massive disco ball, and sizeable dance floor to hold the feet of a bunch of jazzed up festival attendees enjoying the hits like “Gold Silver Diamond”. Generationals put out their fourth LP on Polyvinyl last fall to a wave of success and they’re not ready to slow down just yet.

San Fermin

San Fermin’s performance in Trinity United Methodist Church Saturday evening was both energetic and serene. With a big stage and an even bigger arena to fill, the Brooklyn-based chamber pop group brought out all the horns, strings, and sireny vocals to have folks both glued to their seats in the pews and dancing dancing in front of the altar. The group is helmed by classically trained composer Ellis Ludwig-Leone but the impressive vocals of Allen Tate and Charlene Kay take center stage in beautiful ballads like the glorious cut “Sonsick” off their debut self-titled album. We eagerly await the follow-up.

French Horn Rebellion

French Horn Rebellion’s set at Hang Fire Bar was perfectly placed and timed for a dance party, and that’s just how it turned out. Where the “cool kids” would hang out on a Saturday night anyway, and being one of the last shows of the weekend, out-of-towners and locals alike were able to let loose, down maybe one too many drinks, and soak in the lush and danceable tunes coming from the tiny stage in the corner. The NYC-based duo have been cranking out remixes for the likes of Beyonce, Savoir Adore, and Sleigh Bells while collaborating on original tracks with Haerts, JD Samson, Ghost Beach, and plenty more. According to their Twitter, “We used to play French horn. Now we make hot dance beats.”

Tag: CUSSES

CUSSES at Caledonia on June 12