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Neon Reverb recap: Black Camaro, Big Friendly Corporation and Bleached at Bunkhouse

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Despite some sound issues, Black Camaro played passionately during the second night of Neon Reverb at the Bunkhouse.
Photo: Bill Hughes

This place is starting to feel like my home away from home, I think to myself as I walk into the Bunkhouse on the second night of Neon Reverb. I was here on Thursday for the festival kickoff, and the venue’s bookings are stacked through the weekend with must-see artists like Beach Slang on Saturday and Ty Segall on Sunday. This is only the beginning of my Bunkhouse staycation.

A few minutes past 9 p.m., scene staple Big Friendly Corporation is playing to a fixated crowd (openers Hungry Cloud and LA’s Colleen Green kicked off the night). The group sounds refined and rested, an indication that its year-and-a-half-long recording session for upcoming album Carry On, Carrion has made the band even tighter than before. Playing only new songs during the set, Big Friendly’s material is loaded with poppy, Beatles-esque hooks and harmonies, while much of the songwriting finds the band working through the loss of their brother and friend, Tommy Marth, who died in 2012. “When nothing seems right/You will just close your eyes/And I’ll be there/Traveling deep in the night/You’re not so far away,” the siblings sing on set standout “I Will Haunt Your Dreams.” The group closes with the upcoming album’s title track and the announcement of a new EP, Mad Scientist, which features extended and alternate versions of songs off Carry On, Carrion, available online at thebigfriendlycorporation.bandcamp.com.

Black Camaro

Black Camaro

While Vegas received a short and sweet set from the Black Camaricans (a downsized version of the experimental indie group) in February, Friday night welcomes all of the Black Camaro boys back to the stage—the first time in nearly two years. The set gets off to a rocky start by no fault of the band, as the vocals of keyboardist Tom Miller and guitarist Brian Garth are so low in the mix they can barely be heard, and monitor issues continue for most of the set. The guys don't play any less passionately, but sound issues combined with a noisy crowd make it difficult to sink my teeth into the set. And the band seems annoyed, too. “The burden is on you to shut the f*ck up,” Garth says at one point. Still, we get a handful of great songs, including “(There’s A) Narc in Lorenzi Park" and “Mojave,” both from 2014’s The Last Menagerie, and a taste of what’s to come when they play again on April 8.

By the time the Dirty Hooks play around 11:15, the sound issues are worked out and the group’s bluesy “electric grit” brand of rock 'n’ roll gets a good chunk of the crowd dancing. As if he were made for the limelight, vocalist and bassist Bobby McCall sings with extra panache, echoed by drummer and singer Janine Cali. And even though the Dirty Hooks are a three-piece, the trio’s songs are so radio-catchy that it’s the kind of band I could easily see taking Nashville or Austin by storm.

On the heels of their upcoming album Welcome the Worms (out April 1), sisters Jennifer and Jessica Clavin (formerly of Mika Miko) headline the night with their perfected pop-punk songs as the LA four-piece Bleached. “The bassist [Micayla Grace] used to be in Leopold and his Fiction,” festival co-organizer James Woodbridge tells me during the set—that band will be performing Saturday night during the Weekly’s Neon Reverb showcase. The group plows through the set, including “Searching Through the Past” and “When I Was Yours” from 2012’s Ride Your Heart and a new song, “Chemical Air,” from Welcome the Worms.” All in all, the set feels a bit more aggressive and lo-fi than the sisters' recent recordings—and it's a sound the Bunkhouse crowd is clearly into. Although the show isn’t packed, it's another successful night for Neon Reverb.

Those who stuck around past 1 a.m. saw local punk outfit The Mapes play, though I headed home for some much-needed sleep, knowing that I’d be returning for Beach Slang in less than 24 hours.

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