Briefly, my only show this weekend was Friday night at O'Leaver's, featuring Tartufi and The Stay Awake. Tartufi was the big surprise. A two-piece featuring Brian Gorman on drums (and bullhorn) and Lynne Angel on guitar, bass, keyboards and vocals, the trick to their layered sound was the use of loop upon loop upon loop, which allowed Angel to do three-part harmony with herself, play guitar and bass, all at the same time. I've seen the loop-thing done a lot lately, but never as effectively. It worked kind of like this: Angel would loop a lead guitar, change to bass and rough up a second riff, add a vocal, loop it with a second vocal and then a third (there were three microphones set up). The music was proggy indie rock that bordered on Pixies punk. It looked like quite a workout. With all that sound equipment, pedals and other gear, it took Tartufi a long time to get set up, pushing their set past the midnight hour. The Stay Awake did all they could to hustle their gear on stage and get going. As a result, we were treated (or should I say cheated) to a shortened set. The Stay Awake's style is brittle, abrasive, angry and purposely confusing punk rock based on animal riffage and vocal squalls of frontman Steve Micek, and the rhythm power of bassist Robert Little and drummer/god Mario Alderfer. Frenzied, anxious, searing, jittery, heated and loud, The Stay Awake never fail to entertain (which is why they belonged on The Reader's top-band list). My only regret was forgetting to buy a copy of their new album, which was available for the first time at the show. Look for an official CD release show in the coming months.

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