I had heard a lot about the band You Blew It! within the past month, and the hype around them intrigued me to attend a local show they were playing. Not sure what to expect, but knowing they had just toured with The Front Bottoms (a favorite band of mine), I had high hopes. The Florida natives were in our neck of the woods after playing in RI a few days before, and I listened to a few songs of theirs and was looking forward to it. It was fantastic because I would finally see the band I had heard so much about.
The band opened up with “Match and Tinder”, a powerful and ridiculously catchy tune. “Don’t take this the wrong way- I know that you can’t relate to feelings you don’t have personally,” is the opening line. Tanner Jones, the frontman, was passionate and strong, and joined with members of the crowd to sing this song. “I’ll put mind over matter, to put this matter out of my mind,” starts the chorus. “I shouldn’t let this get to me but I’m having trouble trying to find the right way to say I feel less than confident.” The melody and sound of it reminded me a bit of Title Fight, with the driving drums and bass line, and the sharp guitars, and rough raw vocals on top.
“Award of the Year Award” is my favorite song of theirs, and it was even better live than recorded. The chorus is just brilliant- “‘Give it a rest.’ I shouldn’t have to say this, but now I struggle to recognize you.” It was so small and intimate, and the crowd’s energy really made it feel like a classic punk show, which seems to be the case in the CT house show/small venue scene. Tanner ended up saying, “I haven’t smiled this much during a set in forever,” which was really cool to hear; supporting bands and respecting them giving it their all regardless of whether they’re playing to 10 or 1000 people is so important, and nice to know it’s appreciated.
You Blew It!’s latest album just came out in January; pick it up here: http://topshelfrecords.bandcamp.com/album/keep-doing-what-youre-doing