Another speed run. For reasons.

Sour Apple Surgery started late. I get it, six o'clock isn't a very rock & roll time. As a result, the duo only got a fifteen-minute slot. Paul from Josey Records makes the trains run on time and that's what I appreciates about him. Sour Apple Surgery is two guys – Barron Mos on eight-string guitar and Josh Hobbs on drums. They've been playing together for years. That's important as the act's songs were terribly complicated. Compositions changed time signatures, tempos, and moods often. In all incarnations it was heavy, often incorporating death metal motifs alongside skittery math rock tempos. There were no vocals. After such a short set – and all of it spent behind the viewfinder of my camera – I couldn't unpack much more.

Corners of the Sky followed. The young psych rock band is new and moving quickly. In the last month or so the group has performed live on KKFI, physically released a debut EP, printed T-shirts and other merch, and have announced a headlining gig at one of the bigger rooms in the city. I came to see what the fuss was all about. Here's what I discovered: it was about savage echo on whooping vocals, about wah wah pedals, about guitar freak outs, about twitchy dancing, about guitar solos, about busy, hard-hitting drums, and about a boogie bass. It was about Jason Perez (vocals/guitar), Ravi Bilgen (guitar), Jake Sell (bass), & Kyle Dirck (drums) playing a six-song set over twenty-five minutes. And it was about fan request "Electrify Your Mind" that ended the set on a hard-charging Hawkwind note. If you want to know more, you'll have to catch Corners of the Sky headlining at The Ship on March 19th.

There's never much time between bands at these Josey shows. There is a cooler with water and beer though. Josey knows how to throw a party.

Quadruple Bypass ended the night. I saw them once before and was confused. This time it made more sense. I think it's just punk rock – sludgy and chaotic, but punk rock. Nihilistic lyrics were shouted hoarsely by drummer Ryan Thomas, Angus Howe kept busy on a five-string bass, while guitarist Dylan Smith played doomy riffs in drop D. Some songs in the band's half-hour set were minute-long punk ragers, propelled by Thomas' quick-as-they-can-play-'em drums. Other songs were longer, sludgy affairs with extended instrumental passages. I'm still confused how the two styles work together, but maybe it's that confusion that gives Quadruple Bypass its edge. Maybe confusing the old guy is the goal. I can support that.