It seems to me that most bands with terrible names tend to live up to them. Yuck, however, is the exception to the rule.  They played on Saturday, opening for Smith Westerns — and blew the headliners out of the water. I’ll do a Monday Set of Smith Westerns in a week or two, but let’s just say that this night’s performances were eerily reminiscent of the show at Spanish Moon this time last year in which Sarah Jaffe destroyed Midlake. Maybe it’s a February thing.

Not that Yuck sounds anything like Sarah Jaffe.  This London quartet (teenage singer Ilana Blumberg stayed home; internet rumors claim she had high school exams to take care of) reminded me of nothing so much as slightly slowed-down Superchunk — the same poppy riffs, the same fuzzy guitars, just a little lower energy. Great stuff. And, incidentally, the two guitarists were the guys in Cajun Dance Party, a fact which went somehow unmentioned here on the edge of Acadiana.

Yuck has their debut album out this week.

Download: Yuck: Operation (Live)

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2 Comments

  1. Smith Westerns lackluster performance hasn’t gone unnoticed. They played a sold out show here in Los Angeles and by all accounts, completely blew. Yuck seems to be the only redeeming aspect of the current tour.

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