Sunday night had me all kinds of excited. Never before had I seen Radiator Hospital, generic the band I’ve been singing my heart out to for almost a year. The perfect pop punk songs were to be performed before my very own eyes by Sam Cook-Parrott and his crew of extremely talented band mates, healing Jeff “Boltie,” Cynthia, and Jon. Also rounding out the perfect evening was a group of local pop bands, each with their own unique sound: Congratulations, Fleabite and Ex-Magicians.

I had been waiting to see Congratulations for quite some time now, and if any night was perfect, it was this. They started out with an awkward introduction like a nervous kid trying to speak up in the middle of a loud class. They quickly dropped the awkward stage presence and hit it with their perfect pop jams, vocals and guitar provided by Josh who I recognized from both Springsteen and now Parasol. It’s the best when bands bring their own set decorations, and although their homemade banner fell once before the set, it shined brightly in the background for the rest of it. The mixture of Josh’s course vocals with fun bass lines, simple drumbeats, and high-pitched guitar made for an ultimate dance party pop mix. They have a demo up on their bandcamp now, so don’t skip out on it.

I’ve seen Fleabite more this year than any other band; they’re extremely fun, so I didn’t even think about that fact until later on in the night. They’re like the Daria theme song with Ali Donohue and Vicky Cassis’ low, mixed down vocals. The fuzziness gives them an edge to their pop, and with tunes called “FOMO” and “Cattitude,” they’re just here to have fun. Chelsea Dirck showed a bit of her dance moves behind the bass. “It’s exciting to play with friends,” Ali said of the show, and it summed up the evening well. It felt nice to know a lot of the crowd and bands but also meet a few new people. O’Brien’s is always an intimate show experience; not a lot of people go to the shows, but you know everyone. Fleabite leaves for tour soon, and Ali’s dad texted her to make sure she’s not doing drugs on tour. We cannot confirm any details about the drugs here at Allston Pudding.

I had never heard Ex-Magicians before Sunday night, but I was pleasantly surprised. They reminded me of a band that I would have liked in high school but wouldn’t be embarrassed to say I still love at 24 years old. (i.e. Brand New let’s be real) They played genuinely exciting pop punk with bass mixed prominently as high as the rhythm guitar. Through the entire set, the four dudes looked psyched as all hell to be playing this show. It’s the worst when a band looks bored, but when a band is smiling the whole show, you can’t help but love them. Their set went by quickly just like their songs.

Radiator Hospital skipped all the bullshit and went straight into a new song, faster and a bit harder than the ones you would find on their 2013 LP Something Wild. When I interviewed Sam last week, he said that a lot of the newer songs they’re recording for the next LP are faster, whereas Something Wild had an even mix of slower and faster tunes. Their entire set went this way. We saw nothing of the quiet tunes, which was A-OK for an O’Brien’s show. I wondered why the crowd wasn’t going bananas for this. I felt awkward being one of a few audience members singing and bopping along. Then again, I’m always awkward.

Highlights of the set were songs like “Do You Remember?” and “Our Song,” ones that had Boltie drumming faster than you’d ever imagine humanly possible. Jon had to keep kicking his cinder blocks holding the kick drum in place. His kick drum would have flown straight into the audience otherwise. Sam was funny and charming on stage with a hint of awkwardness, telling anecdotes between songs and trailing into the next song. Most of the anecdotes summed up to one theme: he was excited about this show. Cynthia had zines for sale, and Boltie had “novelty shirts” for sale. The only qualm I had with the set was its length. If I had it my way, Radiator Hospital would have played through the night until I fall asleep, just as the LP has many nights over the last year.