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HoZac Blackout: Dwight Twilley, Pezband, Games, Sueves
Sun., May 19, 8 p.m.Fairs & Festivals
American power-pop progenitor Dwight Twilley has never stopped writing and recording hooky songs, but his last flirtation with the mainstream was in 1984, when two songs from his album Jungle cracked the Billboard singles chart—the classic “Girls” peaked at number 16. I haven’t heard his most recent studio album, 2011’s Soundtrack (Varese Sarabande), but I know plenty of his earlier material, and though Twilley has fallen prey to some unfortunate production trends during his nearly four-decade recording career, especially in the 80s (superfluous synthesizers, boomy drums, suffocating reverb), his knack with a catchy melody has proved as consistent as his bad luck. In 1974 he and his musical partner, Phil Seymour, left their hometown of Tulsa for LA, where within a year (and with virtually no promotion) they scored a Top 40 hit with “I’m on Fire,” a masterpiece of Beatlesque pop girded by rockabilly swagger. The Dwight Twilley Band played it on American Bandstand along with its planned follow-up, “Shark (In the Dark),” but their label shelved the second single, afraid it would look like an attempt to cash in on the success of the film Jaws. Their brilliant debut album, Sincerely, took another year to come out, and by then the band’s momentum had stalled. A strong second album, Twilley Don’t Mind, came out in 1977 on Arista, and it tanked too, provoking Seymour to go solo (he died from lymphoma in 1993). Twilley has made a surfeit of indelible guitar pop in the decades since, but he’s never matched the perfection of those first two albums, with their flawless harmony singing, tasteful guitar, monster hooks, and just the right amount of grit and muscle from the band’s hard-rock drive. This rare local performance coincides with a new HoZac single that finally makes “Shark” available to the record-buying public—and it was worth the wait. It’s part of HoZac’s Blackout fest. —Peter Margasak Pezband, Games, and the Sueves open.
$25, $70 four-day pass
773-276-3600Turbonegro, Mount Carmel
Sun., May 19, 8 p.m.Rock, Pop, Etc
After the 2009 departure of dangerously charismatic front man Hank Von Helvete, 20-year-old Norwegian “death punk” institution Turbonegro would’ve been justified in ditching their denim and calling it a day. Instead the band went on hiatus while seeking a new vocalist and eventually picked Tony Sylvester, a burly Englishman who cut his teeth singing for hardcore bands such as Dukes of Nothing and served as president of the London chapter of the Turbojugend—the band’s rabid fan club, whose seemingly omnipresent denim-clad legions undoubtedly contributed to Turbonegro’s choice to soldier on. Last year’s Sexual Harassment (Scandinavian Leather) proves that decision sound. Coated in Kiss-style glam and sometimes just as flat-out ridiculous as that band (“Shake Your Shit Machine”), the album benefits from Sylvester’s gruff, throaty vocals—a departure from Von Helvete’s relatively sassy singing—and the hard-ass rock ’n’ roll licks that guitarist Euroboy can lay down at will. Though Turbonegro are experts at anthemic party rock (“Mister Sister”), an evil punk ’n’ roll track such as “Dude Without a Face”—which is so over-the-top it’d make Alice Cooper blush—deepens the band’s weirdo mystique. Over the years their collective image has evolved into some kind of cross between a sailor, a 50s street tough, and Ziggy Stardust. —Kevin Warwick Mount Carmel opens.
$25
A Guy Named Guy, Waste Basket, Get Up & Go, Bumsy & the Moochers
Sun., May 19, 8 p.m.Rock, Pop, Etc
HoZac Blackout Fest
5/16-5/19: Thu 9 PM, Fri-Sun 8 PMMusic Festivals
The lineup of garage, skuzz, and power-pop includes Dwight Twilley, Tyvek, Eat Skull, Chrome, Mike Rep & Tommy Jay, Negative Scanner, and Wizzard Slee.
$10 for Thu, $20 for Fri, $25 for Sat and Sun, four-day pass $70
