Live: Tyvek + Coconut Coolouts, Personal & the Pizzas

So, because life must always be made extra difficult, I ended up catching Tyvek not at Cake Shop, as I had planned, but at Silent Barn the night before. Sadly, I arrived at too late for Stupid Party, which is one of my most favorite new favorites.

I did catch Personal & the Pizzas, who I found to be classic punk, complete with 50's revival undertones. That's the kind of music that depends on songwriting and the Pizza's just didn’t make the cut.

Next up was Coconut Coolouts, which I was certain I was going to hate, based on the name alone. I was mistaken. I'm not going to quit my job and follow them around the country or anything (they're no Tyvek!) but I was pretty glad to have spent forty minutes of my life at their show.

Their garage rock had exceptional hooks and melodies and exceptional noise. There seemed to be about fifteen people in the band, but I think it's actually six, which is still quite a few more than you need for a garage rock band. I'm not crazy about that, but it definitely worked alright at this show - because there is no stage at Silent Barn, the line between audience and band was blurred, and it seemed like we were all joining in.

It's not the most profound music, just fun music to jump around to. And not all of the songs were smashhits. But enough of them were that I just may have walked away from that set with a smile. Thanks, Coolouts! [MySpace]

Ah, Tyvek. I was glad to see them again, as they are one of the DIY/punk scene's most exciting bands. Sadly, this show was a let-down. Maybe it was the heat and humidity, maybe it was just a bad night, but the band's sound seemed to wilt.

Don't get me wrong, they were still riveting - if spontaneous human combustion is real, there's no one more likely to burst into flame than Tyvek at one of their shows. But in this sweltering heat, things went in a different direction. The crowd's behavior was lamentable, heckling, pushing one another (it's not moshing if you come at someone from behind) and eventually knocking over the PA. Couple that with a frustrating performance by the band, and that smile the Coconut Coolouts gave me was all but gone.

Still, a bad show is different from a bad band. And if I hadn't expected to have my socks knocked off, this wouldn't have even seemed like a bad show. My socks were still on at the end, but there aren't many bands I'd rather have seen. [MySpace]