My attempt to sneak into this show without paying the $8.00 admission proved to be futile, as I was told to remove my car from the premises. Damn! If only I'd been in one of the bands... Nonetheless, these three acts provided a cure to the dry spell 44 has experienced lately. Jimmie's Chicken Shack? Glorious Vega? What next, Los Golden Skillets and Miserable Pinto? Ran into the good people from Camp Zama Records, who were slightly annoyed that I made them play "Guess The Song In Four Words."After an hour of "Brussels-muscles-language-sandwich," the Groovie Ghoulies got things underway. The lone track I had ever heard from this band was a version of "Pet Sematary" from the Gabba Gabba Hey Ramones tribute album some years back. That "Hey ho! Let's go!"-sensibility ruled the evening, as the Ghoulies went through a fun 25-minute set with occasional breaks for joke-telling, toy-throwing, and crowd-praising. Genuine smiles were plastered on their faces. The Ghoulies weren't just "going through the motions" (unlike the Ramones' 1993 Boathouse show -- anyone remember when Joey said, "96-X. They play us?"). Nice job, Ghoulies!
Chixdiggit from Canada were next, and they continued the 1-2-3-4 love fest with rock-star poses akin to '70s Cheap Trick. These Canadians were also thick with the compliments for those in attendance (i.e., "You're the best fans in the world"). Sincere or sarcastic? Maybe a little of both. Their best moment came during the song "Henry Rollins Is No Fun" (among other titles in the band's catalog: "Best Hung Carrot In The Fridge," "The Toilet Seat's Coming Down" and "I Should've Played Football In High School"). A fan near the front knew all the words to that number, so vocalist/guitarist KJ Janson handed over the mic and let him finish the tune.
Headliners The Muffs were greeted with enthusiastic applause, and the cheers continued as the trio played selections from all three of their albums. The Muffs' sound has been likened to the Ramones crossed with The Bangles. Which is an apt description, since one can detect an underlying sweetness in vocalist Kim Shattuck's growls. I'm surprised they didn't cover the cover of "Hazy Shades Of Winter." After a well-paced thirty-five minutes, The Muffs encored with three more songs, including one where bassist Ronnie Barnett sang.
When I made my rounds to record stores the next day, several people mentioned this show as the best one 44 had hosted in quite awhile. I could only nod my head in agreement.
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