The Lovely Bad Things are SICK! No, really they have some kind of flu or something. The drummer was particularly sweaty but it didn’t seem to slow him down one bit. In fact the band was the loudest, fastest and noisiest of the evening. I can’t wait to see these guys when they’re healthy! They even played Priscilla’s special request for “Paperface” by Weezer. If you are headed to SXSW, catch them at the Volstead 3/16th.

SF’s Cruel Summer kicked off the evening. The 2 women in the group provide great vocal interplay and the band slides effortlessly from fuzz/noise to catchy pop hooks. The last song they played ended in a long repetitive frenzy that brought to mind a Brian Eno style wall-of-sound.

The Blank Tapes continue to evolve. They have left the grit and 8 tracks of Oakland for the land of the beautiful people (LA). Now a 3 piece, the bass player plays like a guitarist, with interesting effect, not the simple thumps you might expect at the beach party they seem to be creating. The drummer does play the simplest of beats but behind a sparkly gold floor tom and snare, it’s hard to take your eyes off her. The new LP, Vacation, is the first to be recorded in a ‘proper’ studio at Oakland’s Antenna Farm Records. See them in Austin at Valhalla on 3/12/13.

Olympia, Washinton’s Lake brought the quietest moments of the night. They play quite a diverse range of music, funky near-disco at one moment and 80’s lite rock the next. I have too many issues with the music of the 80’s to embrace Lake, but if you are nostalgic for those times, dive right in.