Last Friday I woke to a Facebook notification about a show at a local bar The Knockout here in San Francisco, featuring Bay Area favorites The Atom Age, Vicky & The Vengents, and The Krypters. The Teenage Dance Craze night began with help from local DJs Russell Quan, Okie Oran, and dX The Funky Granpaw, however I had my own little spinning party getting ready for the show, so I didn’t roll up until just at the end of the The Krypters’ set.
Vicky & The Vengents are a new one for me, and vocalist/frontwoman Vicky Tafoya commands control of the stage, bellowing out powerful lyrics with a little ‘Amy Winehouse’ style. The band bills themselves as “psychedelic maltshop punk/pop/ rock n’ roll…qith a love for all thangs dramatic, melodic, and loud, the girl-groups, guitars, grease and garage are all in the blender”. You can have a listen to the title track of their most recent release “You Used To Be My Baby” here.
I had most recently seen The Atom Age a couple weeks ago as they opened the stage for Agent Orange at DNA Lounge. Tonight they were headliners, and the openers did quite well to warm the crowd. Although, the band’s music does well enough on it’s own to get the coldest of crowds moving. In case you are unfamiliar with The Atom Age, the band has spent the last several years edging out an un-tapped niche in the punk sound, featuring strong saxophone, organ/keyboard, and guitar riffs that evoke a space-age, rocky, cosmic world where everyone is dressed in their dancehall best and dances til the last chord.
You can have a look at photos from The Atom Age and Vicky & The Vengents’ set below.
Big thanks to Peter, Ryan, Brandon, and the whole Atom Age crew, as well as the guys at Knockout for a good night of rock and dance. And sorry to Jello for disturbing you with my flash.