Nasty Fancy

If you weren’t at the Zephyr Pub Wednesday night, you sure missed out. Two of the floors in Kent’s drunkee jungle gym were full of energy, people and talented musical acts.

The occasion? The hometown group Octolope released their first album, Grown So Cold. The band’s name represents a cross-breed of an octopus and an antelope, which may sound like a timid beast, but based off these guys’ performance, it has one hell of a roar.

It’s hard to fully pinpoint Octolope’s  sound to give it the credit it deserves. Deep, heavy riffs and drums dominated the performance, backed by spaced-out ambient Moog synthesizer effects. Unlike many headbang-enducing groups, singer and guitarist Josh Weiss opts to sing rather than scream or yell, and the melodies he piped out add a wonderful touch to the band’s tunes.

Blues-rocker Patrick Sweany kicked things off on the first floor in his first performance at the Zeph since January, and played through the end of the night. Even with all the action upstairs, he managed to pack a crowd on the first floor as well.

Openers The Demon Beat and Maui and Papa, both blew me away in their own separate ways.

The Demon Beat, out this way via West Virginia, jump started the upstairs music with some pure-bred rock and roll and tons of charisma. The band didn’t miss a beat, playing each song almost seamlessly into the next.

Maui and Papa followed with a hypnotic set. It was one fella playing and looping of guitar and lots of reverb in front of a moving visual backdrop worked by his female counterpart. This guy had some amazing windpipes, and it felt like everyone in the room was gripped to the performance.

I asked Octolope to pick today’s Song of the Day, and it didn’t take long for the band to reach a consensus.

Here’s “Deerslayer” by Black Math Horsemen.

When asked why this song, Weiss said it’s a big favorite of the band and described it as “a perfect blend of heavy and soft, and ethereal, yet bone crushing.” He hit the nail on the head.

Kudos the all the bands and the Zephyr Pub for putting together such a great night.