It is shows like this that make me so thankful to be a tall girl. Seattle neo-punk trio So Pitted kicked off their first song at 7:23PM sharp, and though I was mid-interview with a pair of rad ladies who make great radio at CiTR, they sounded supreme. 

Standing at the back and bobbing between long-haired dudes to catch glimpses of the band, my first thought after hearing a whole song was “Wow that early Nirvana cover band was soooo good.” Meant as a compliment, I’m thinking Bleach-era demo tapes, and I dare you to disagree. Derivative sound aside, the comparison speaks to the quality of the grubby distortion and scalded vocals drowned in the live mix. I was very much into the sound the rhythm guitar had as it was played through bass-amp by the only lady to grace the make-shift stage.

“Woe”, easily the most memorable song of the set, dripped with deep fuzz, ample reverb, and speedy drums. I grieved for the mosh pit that could have been had it not been for the half a dozen racks of 99 cent LPs keeping the audience on their best behaviour.

Vancouver’s own Weed played a solid set. It was all about those down strokes and one of the best drumming performances I’ve seen so far this year. It took them a song or two for the band to find the right groove for their distortion, but after swapping out patch chords the guitars ensured that I heard nary a squeak of vocal for the rest of the set. These guys will make lots of friends along their West Coast tour, this was some distinctly PCNW rain soaked grunge pop, one of our best exports.

Overall though, really wish I’d seen this show just about anywhere but Zulu. The sound was bad, everything was muffled, and the lighting and sightlines were brutal (except maybe for those five tall guys who managed to squeeze their way up front).

Photo from Bandcamp