Mr. Evan Dando was definitively surrounded by a lot of young girls last Thursday night at the El Rey, as the New Zealand trio Street Chant who started the show, was fronted by two long-haired girls who looked like two warriors decided to do some damage.
Their aggressive punk songs, sung at two voices, were varied enough to keep the crowd interested till the end of their set, and the young trio was reminding me some of the best punk female bands (Sleater Kinney may be, but without Tucker’s vocals). The dark and aggressive rhythms, only produced with a loud guitar (Emily Littler), a heavy bass (Billie Rogers) a chaotic and efficient drumming (Alex Brown) and the half-shouted vocals of the two girls, were building up some pressure before breaking down and then surging again with more instrumental solos.
There was a lot of raw energy in their drum-bass-guitar assaults bathing in sinister riffs, throbbing rhythms, a very distinct bass line, perfect-pitched-for punk vocals, and the black poncho-cape worn by the barefoot bassist.
And there was some balance in their set, with alternatively some slower and lighter melodies, some more offensive ones over long repetitive sinister loops, or some explosive punk bombs…
What amazed me the most was the extreme young age of the band members who were producing this mature sound, probably not breaking grounds in the punk music world, but playing as if they were some old-time veterans.