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Jen Cray
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Backstabber at Will's Pub
THIS LITTLE UNDERGROUND
Backstabber, O’rchard and Nuclear Pistachio, Will’s Pub, May 21
In a laudable and important attempt to turn up the local soil for new discoveries,
Norsekorea Presents recently put on a showcase of relatively unfamiliar area bands.
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Jen Cray
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Backstabber at Will's Pub
Easily, the revelation of the night was Orlando shred punks
Backstabber. They’re a
tech-punk band, which is kind of strange, a bit oxymoronic and pretty original. As required by their chosen path, these four guys are all aces of their instruments and work as a flashy and together unit. Naturally, they can’t help but invoke
heavy metal with their technical flourishes, but their music is decidedly punk in style, just with bonus flair.
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Jen Cray
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Backstabber at Will's Pub
On guitars, they charge hard and often rise into squealing prog-metal triumph, even tricking it out with fancy finger taps and dueling solos. Their rhythm section can go from a punk gallop to speed metal velocity with five-string bass, occasional blasts and lots of double kick drumming. It’s all a combination that’s less odd on stage than it looks on paper, and the live result is as wowing as it is fun.
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Jen Cray
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O'rchard at Will's Pub
Also decent were St. Cloud indie-rock band
O’rchard. Their likeable songs beam with brisk, hooky melodies and a distinctly John Darnielle-esque vocal delivery by singer Austin Courtney.
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Jen Cray
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O'rchard at Will's Pub
Live, however, the band kick things out with a gusto that lands them a touch closer to folk-punk territory than their recordings suggest, more Against Me! than the Mountain Goats. Although sometimes a little unfinished, they’re a vibrant young band crackling with scrappy energy.
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Jen Cray
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Nuclear Pistachio at Will's Pub
Opening the night was
Nuclear Pistachio. Typically, a goofball name like that only comes from either a jam band, a funk band or a collision of the two. This Orlando group, however, are more a combination of blues, rock and funk. They do have enough of that loose-limbed, noodling groove that hippies just find irresistible though. And though they played competently, it’s the kind of music that probably just belongs on a
college campus.
Follow Bao on Twitter (@baolehuu)
Email Bao: baolehuu@orlandoweekly.com