I was bummed to have missed the openers. Bozmo, who are one of the best bands in Boston that not enough people know about, and tourmates Habibi, who bring Brooklyn buzz to lady-fronted punk, but was psyched to arrive to catch the entirety of King Tuff. Kyle Thomas, his Tuffness, could very well have been born in a garage. He keeps the four-piece as bare bones as possible, but there’s a certain mastery to how simple his music is. There’s no overthinking or hesitation involved. The band relies on catchy hooks and riffs, and there is nothing more you would ever want from it.
If they were to shoot a sequel to Dazed and Confused this summer, I’m
convinced it would be soundtracked by King Tuff’s new album. His sound is
nostalgic, but there’s a certain carefree element that tempts people to, well, form
ridiculous moshpits, making it impossible to get any pictures. He reaches a pretty
wide audience, too. The Great Scott crowd was a mixture of punks, bros, and
everything in between. New jams like “Bad Thing,” and “Keep on Movin,”
encouraged the crowd to do exactly that, while tunes from his first effort, Was Dead,
like “Lady,” and “Dancing On You,” had people stage diving. Despite all of this
madness (including one particularly fucked up girl who kept climbing on stage and
being an asshole), the band remained tight as hell, especially King Tuff’s new lead
guitarist and ace bassmaster Magic Jake.
Summer music is the best and King Tuff is really getting it right at just the right time. If Monday night at the Great Scott was any indication, he is striking a chord with a number of different audiences, a chord that makes people want to joyously mosh their life away.
-Perry Eaton
Photo Credit: Daniel Schiffer
