I have a couple of copies of Show Pony and this electric blue variant is one of the rarer ones (only 100 copies out there). Having a few copies of the LP is TOTALLY worth it. I love this band and absolutely love the songs. Some of my faves that I never tire of: “The Itch” (video link recorded by my friend, Veronica, in Milwaukee in 2018, I was standing next to her at the show) and “You Would” (both ass-shakers that go to 11), the heavy heavy stompers “Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing,” “White Dove” and “Man’s World,” the madcap chugging title track “Show Pony” and the punk’d up “Blood & Cigarettes.”  Listening to Show Pony gives me all the exhilarated feels but also makes me super super sad as I am remembering the pure joy of seeing Brother O’Brother live many times over the past several years (they are some of the hardest-working and best entertainers out there; seeing Warner Swopes leap off his drums and Chris take a guitar solo up on the bar is an awesome sight) and missing it like crazy right now.

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The Pack a.d. and Brother O’Brother split 7″ on limited edition tri-color vinyl (50 copies), 2020, Romanus Records. Two of the best garage-rock duos out there, back-to-back on vibrant custom vinyl, accompanied by their own hand-crafted action figures (super-limited to 15 sets) including Pack a.d. members Maya Miller (drums) and Becky Black (guitar, vocals) and Brother O’Brother’s Warner Swopes (drums, I’m also pretty positive he painted these himself) and Chris Banta (guitar, vocals).

Side A has The Pack a.d.’s blistering track “Shake” which is stomping, psychedelically lo-fi garage rock and SO GOOD. Side B has two songs from Brother O’Brother: “Cyborg,” a garage-punk face-melting stomper delivered with maximum force and fury, and “This Is Fine,” another thundering all-out rocker whose lyrics, I’m fairly certain, belie the title – everything is not actually fine in 2020. Though this package of awesomeness I received over the weekend is one of the few delights this year; I cannot wait for musicians to start being able to tour again. We had tickets to see Pack a.d. this spring (cancelled, of course) and usually get to see Brother O’Brother at least a few times throughout the year. Not so much in 2020.

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We caught Brother O’Brother live last night…from our kitchen while eating dinner and washing dishes. They live-streamed their set via Black Circle Brewing in Indianapolis, hosted by Loud Mouth Stream as a fundraiser for the ACLU. The audio and visual quality was top-notch and despite not being there with them physically, Chris Banta (guitar, vocals) and Warner Swopes (drums) put on a high-energy, face-melting set with some of my favorites: songs like “16 Flowers,” “Monster Truck,” “The Itch,” “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” and “Means to be a Woman.” I head-banged, shimmied and “too-sweet’d” along to the show while getting some chores done. It’s a weird weird world. Here’s some screen shots I took from Facebook Live: (can you guess the answer to the trivia question in the first shot? There were a bunch of them leading up to the live performance, just like they do at the movie theater.) (Also Warner is not really green in real life haha!)

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We went down to Indianapolis in August for the Monster Truck EP release party, which coincided with the first ever Romanus Records fest, and I was first in line to put my name down for a copy of the EP. Chris graciously hand-delivered it to me in Milwaukee at the end of August when they played at the Cooperage for Moon Rats’ Highway Lord record release (we saw them again just a couple of weeks later when they performed with Pack AD at Company Brewing).

Monster Truck is heavy heavy garage blues, delivered with the fervor of a true-believer. It’s also really really funny! The opening track, the fire-and-brimstone gospel and grunge howler “Unleavened”, has the line “But these world leaders are trying to play whack-a-mole with your very soul.” And the title track “Monster Truck” – an all-out ass-shaking balls to the wall rocker, has the chorus “I’m in love with you baby, like a monster truck.” Which is funny in and of itself but the thing is that young Chris Banta had dreams of either being a professional basketball player or a monster truck driver, so this song really is his ultimate ode to love. The video is also the funniest damn thing I’ve seen in a long time.

“Gold” is thunderous and exciting, a wall of fuzzed-out guitar and crashing drums and then “Howlelujah” slows things down to a determined stomp highlighting BoB’s blues and gospel influences. “Must Be Blind” is another slow-burner full of big rock-n-roll power chords concluding with a recording of an over-the-top announcer at, what I can only assume is, a monster truck event, the sounds of crushing and mayhem overlaid with engine revving before switching over to Banta’s and Swopes’ other true love, WWE. The last track “Omni” is a really tight interplay between Banta’s guitar and Swopes’ heavy-hitting rhythm. But wait! Just when you think the EP is over, there’s more “Omni” that starts off fuzzy and dark before becoming uplifting and soaring and with a completely different sound and flavor than the usual BoB sound. A nice surprising treat at the end, fitting for a record filled with candy.

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We first stumbled upon Brother O’Brother a little over a year ago at Mile of Music after reading this description of the band in the festival program: “Brother O’ Brother, an Indianapolis-based duo, formed in the Summer of 2013 and began making music with the message of love in mind and combining their message with their garage, blues and gospel sound. They participate in this conversation of life by drenching guitars in fuzz, booming drums, and mountains of smoke and lights.” I’ve since seen them at least eight more times and can say without hesitation that Chris Banta and Warner Swopes are two of the most dynamic performers out there and put every ounce of energy and sweat into their shows. They are also super-sweet guys with enough patience to hang out with our kid, Vault-boy.

I wrote about the save-your-soul-by-rock-n-roll bluesy garage tornado of fuzzed-fury that is Neon Native in March ‘17 (before its official release in May) and before any links were available. I’m pasting my comments again here, though now updated for full visual and auditory enjoyment.

Leading off the album is “R.O.S.E.,” a track I’ve written about before (it was released on a split single in 2016), and it’s a slow burning heavy blues rocker that builds into an explosion of fury. “16 Flowers” is scorching blues, with a decidedly punk attitude. “Sunshine” is full of T.Rex swagger, churning fuzzed out angry guitars (and one of my favorites). “Grab the Rope” has a grungy-headbanging tempo with a scathing political message. “I Got It” is another favorite on Neon Native; I’m totally partial to ass-shakers and this one does not disappoint with its locomotive rhythm guitar that breaks into an infectious hook at the chorus. “I Confess” showcases Banta’s gospel preacher-intense delivery to the music of deep humid Southern blues inspiration. “Cardinal” is bluesy via Zeppelin guitars. “Fever” is the longest track on the album and it burns slowly like a, well, fever, eventually building into a bonfire so hot you can feel Banta’s sweat seeping through the speakers. “White Noise” takes the listener on a completely different journey, heading down to mountain country with a stomping acoustic beat, a little bluegrass infused into Brother O’Brother’s blues rock. “Take Me” starts with a traditional blues guitar lament while Banta admonishes, cajoles and pleads “If you love me, you gotta take me as I am.” OK! “Life on Mars” is sparse, lots of space for the lyrics to shine, and then gravity takes shape into a fiery explosion at the chorus; this track is another great example of Brother O’Brother’s ability to build beautiful tension into their songs. The album concludes with “Widow Maker” which has a lilting 50′s/60′s pop rhythm and 3-chord punk melodic sensibility while Banta contemplates the nature of life.

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The Maness Brothers, from St. Louis, are David Maness on guitar and Jake Maness on drums. Both trade off on whiskey-soaked vocals (see “Davey’s Blues” and “End of Me”). Self-described “garage/doom/blues” rockers, their sound is gritty, intense, traditional hard-driving blues filtered through hill-country punk lenses. I’m always amazed when two musicians can project a packed-stage worth of volume and power, but these two succeeded, and then some. In an article about the band in Riverfront Times, I read Jake Maness played in a doom metal band and I now understand the ferocity’s foundation. The article also says, “While the band presents itself just loud enough to rattle the brain, the volume never feels overbearing – a testament to the brothers’ balance of skins and strings.”

After the show, we got a chance to chat with David Maness for awhile. (It was his 30th birthday that night.) Apparently they play Milwaukee frequently as they are good friends with Milwaukee-based Calliope (also on Romanus Records) so we’ll likely get a chance to see them again soon, without needing to drive five hours for the show. David also told us a great story about discovering Jon Spencer Blues Explosion around age 11 (JSBX’s Russell Simins plays in S-E-R-V-I-C-E). He was obsessed with blues music and while shopping at a record store saw their name had “blues” in it, so bought the record (“the one with a werewolf or something on it” – probably Plastic Fang). He said it was the weirdest thing he’d ever heard (at 11, I’m sure it was) but got into it after a few listens.

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I’m expecting a bit of an adventure for this brief road trip. It’s Memorial Day weekend and we have to drive through Chicago (always a bit of a nightmare, even on a non-holiday). While trying to find a hotel around Indianapolis – and being completely unsuccessful – I figured out that it’s also the Indy 500 this weekend (me=not a race fan, obviously). While having driven through Indianapolis hundreds of times on my way to wherever, I’ve never actually stopped so I have little knowledge of the city or what to expect. But the show itself should be AMAZING. BoB puts on an incredible show wherever they play, but this one will be in their hometown with lots of friends and family (I’m guessing) in the audience. The guys will have some sweet swag available: some tasty crazy vinyl treats, shirts and posters. And to top it off, S-E-R-V-I-C-E is one of the opening bands and Russell Simins from Jon Spencer Blues Explosion plays drums so that’s the happy cherry on top of my rock-n-roll-blue-garage-punk-gospel sundae.

The sweet swag (Photos via Brother O’Brother’s Instagram).

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