Los Angeles – At the Teragram Ballroom, Mystic Braves’ headlining show felt like two completely different shows. While the headlining act are known for their psychedelic 60’s throwback sound and attracted a more mature audience, the night’s opening act spewed pure youthful energy as the main draw for a significant portion of the under-18 crowd at the all-ages show just outside of Downtown Los Angeles. Openers No Parents packed the house during their set, only to see the venue nearly empty out as Julian Ducatenzeiler, Tony Malacara, Shane Stotsenberg, Cameron Gartung, and Ignacio Gonzalez got the stage ready. After just a few minutes, a flood of slightly older music-fans squeezed in front of the stage, beers in hand; by the time Mystic Braves got started playing the crowd was at its largest size of the night
It’s not that Mystic Braves is music for old people; in fact it is quite the contrary. Their sunny and stoner-y mod / psych / surf rock amalgamation is tailor-made for the college-age set. That being said, No Parents’ adolescent mindset and youthful angst delivered via straightforward hardcore punk aggression is a style that really brings out the kids – not to mention a tendency to generate a riotous circle pit. Both bands are local to the Los Angeles scene (as well as earlier openers The Abigails and The Creation Factory, the latter which features members of Mystic Braves), so in some ways it was not a completely bizarre lineup.
One of Mystic Braves’ biggest claims to fame is being chosen to open for a reunited lineup of British Invasion darlings The Zombies on the Santa Monica Pier. That lineup made a lot of sense; the Braves are kind of a like a new, more modern, more-Californian version of The Zombies. Ducatenzeiler and Stotsenberg guitar tone featured reverberation that was alternately warm or slippery-wet, lending the band’s sound a decidedly a retro surf-rock vibe. Malacara’s workman-like bass subtly bounced around in the background, adding a groove that matched Gartung’s no-frills time-keeping, never overpowering or demanding the spotlight. Ignacio Gonzalez provided the element that separates the band from most of their local and national contemporaries: whirling, mood-setting organ riffs.
The band performed songs from both of their full-length releases, 2013’s Mystic Braves and 2015’s Desert Island. While Ducatenzeiler introduced a few of the songs during their set, including a new cut titled “Listen to Your Heart”, and occasionally had friendly banter with the audience, the rest of the band stayed pretty quiet, re-tuning their instruments between songs. While the audience certainly did not pummel each other in the manner of the kids there for No Parents, there was quite a bit of pogo-ing and grooving in the crowded area between the stage and sound booth.
Speaking of No Parents, they have been slowly gathering momentum and attention among their peers on the crowded Burger Records roster, playing a no-frills style of classic hardcore, replete with G.G. Allin-style crowd provocation and open, copious alcohol consumption by band members. They were able to cram a great deal of their blistering tracks into the 30-minute-plus set, including “Punk is So Easy”, “Hey Illuminati”, and the ultra-crass (though hardly the band’s most crass) anthem, “Dick City”. These guys are the epitome of what could be called a “pizza hipster” band – aka greasy punks that are a little over-obsessed with pizza. In addition to having a song on their self-titled debut called “Pizza”, midway through their set they flung a boxed Little Caesar pie into the circle pit area between songs – which I can confirm was somehow 99% consumed by the end of the set, just a few pieces of crust and a ripped-up box left over.
Catch Mystic Braves on the West Coast throughout October, with dates in San Diego, Santa Ana, Santa Cruz, and San Francisco. Check out their tour page for more information on more upcoming dates.
Mystic Braves photo credit: Matt Matasci for BestNewBands.com
Matt Matasci
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