Photo by Helen Chen

It was a 10-year celebration of music at Great Scott on Saturday night, tadalafil and three bands were there to help with the festivities. Regal Degal took to the stage boasting a sound that evoked both Craft Spells and 80’s axioms. While mostly melodic, cheap guitar and vocals engaged in some planned dissonance to add a little something extra to their songs. Their drummer’s work was impressive, as some pretty cool crashes peppered their set.

LODRO took to the stage next, sporting a heavy, deliberate intro. Their bass-heavy sound also made good use of the drums, as that was the main component in driving the pace. LODRO wasn’t afraid to add in feedback to top off their sound. Lesley Hann’s vocals were dichotomous, providing melody behind a droning affectation.

When New York City’s DIIV hit the stage I noticed two things: Great Scott had become absolutely packed behind me and frontman Zachary Cole Smith was shorter than I expected. Their energy starting out was absolutely infectious; by the second song, the full house was moving. DIIV came prepped with a slew of new tracks, all of which carried that familiar water-inspired tone. They seamlessly fit in with old favorites (if they can be considered old) as the band worked their way through tracks off of their acclaimed debut, Oshin.

The new songs helped the set intermittently speed up and slow down, which made for a compelling flow of music. They’ve clearly explored their own onstage dynamics for the purpose of putting on a solid show, even if Smith’s hair resting permanently in front of his face gave off a “we’re just going to play and do our thing” kind of vibe. He was in his own zone during the show and was very active in using his pedals. Being that invested in his sound culminated in a refrain of “My amp is fucked” throughout the night. Though not noticeable at first, some of his guitar work was inaudible at times, which was a shame considering his finesse with his instrument.

Throughout the night, the floor was shaking. Part of this was due to the phenomenal bass-lines that were very prominent on songs like “Doused” and “(Druun Pt. II)”. Vocals were extrusive as well, but this wound up being a bit glaring. It  detracted from a few songs and this was apparently worse the farther away from the stage you were. One of the things that made Oshin so cogent was the vocal’s place in the mix – it was never overpowering and generally shared equal footing with the other instruments. Despite the occasional obtuse vocal, the instruments did most of the talking during the set and sounded even better live. This, along with the new songs, made for a great Saturday night. For an act that Smith never expected to make an exodus from his bedroom, they’re primed to continue to make waves.

(Bonus points for the night if you spotted Sky Ferreira in the audience)

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