Due to a very late Thursday night, I elected to sleep in on Friday.  The downside of this was that I missed CYCLOPS, a new band featuring Tina Luchesi of Trashwomen and Bobbyteens, open up the day show at the Buccaneer.

I did get to catch two amazing bands though. The first was fronted by Ryan Rousseau (aka Ryan Wong) from Yuma, AZ, a musician I’ve definitely grown to trust. He’s been in the Reatards, Tokyo Electron, and Destruction Unit just to name a few. Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems like at least one of his bands has played Gonerfest every single year.  This year he brought a new band to Memphis named RYAN ROUSSEAU AND HIS DESERT CHILDREN. Although they were very different than most of his past projects, I really loved them. This co-ed group played trance-inducing, psychedelic songs. Their songs were beautiful, but quirky enough to keep my attention.  Check out local photographer Kandi Cook’s awesome photos of them.

Closing out the day show was STRAIGHT ARROWS from Sydney, Australia.  They were great!  As you can see from my video, although I was super tired and hungover, I couldn’t help but dance. They delivered perfectly catchy punk songs—just as you would expect from one of the great bands coming out of Australia.  The Straight Arrows LP It’s Happening is a must, and they also win for best tour manager (love you, Mike!)…other than Acid Baby Jesus of course.

After the day show I had to go home and find something extra fancy to wear to the evening show at the Hi-Tone. The Friday night MC, Rob K (formerly of the WORKDOGS and currently of JAM MESSENGERS), was nice enough to ask me to co-host with him for the night. Even with my hectic schedule, there’s no way I could turn him down! I arrived at the Hi-Tone about 5 minutes too late to catch any of AQUAFUZZ’s set. I hope the out-of-towners dug them, because they are one of the better bands to pop up in Memphis lately. It’s no surprise with the all-star line up featuring Harlan T. Bobo, Jack Oblivian, Bruce Saltmarsh, and Jeff “Bunny” Dutton.

I was very excited that I did make it there in time to see MIDNITE SNAXXX. They are an all-girl band from Oakland, CA featuring members of the LOUDMOUTHS and BOBBYTEENS. I don’t think they quite measure up to the ladies’ past projects, but they are still a great band. They play fast, catchy punk reminiscent of 90s Rip Off Records bands.

Up next were JAMES ARTHUR’S MANHUNT from somewhere near Austin, TX. This is (as the name obviously suggests) the band of former GOLDEN BOYS guitarist James Arthur.  They are great loud, noisy, Texas psych.

The MEAN JEANS played next and were one of my surprise favorites of the fest. I have to admit that I wasn’t really familiar with them before Gonerfest 8. I had heard the name but never really took the time to check them out. I was totally missing out! Mean Jeans are from Portland, OR, and play catchy punk for fans of the Ramones or, more recently, the Spits. Their sound is nothing new, but something about it really stands out. Their set was possibly the most fun of the fest. There was silly string everywhere and the crowd was going nuts.

ICKY BOYFRIENDS from San Francisco, CA were next. I don’t know much about them, and honestly I don’t remember much about the show. I know they were around in the late 80s to mid 90s, so was this a reunion show?  They had the unfortunate case of having to play in between Mean Jeans and the Gories. Their songs were slow and sludgy and gave me a chance to talk to some friends.

Closing out the night were one of my all time favorites THE GORIES from Detroit, MI. The fact that I was on stage introducing them with Rob K was pretty surreal for me. I saw one of their reunion shows a couple years back, which only made me more excited for this one. If you aren’t familiar with them, do yourself a favor and go buy everything they’ve ever released. It's primitive garage rock at it’s best!  At Gonerfest they sounded great and the crowd was amazing. There couldn’t have been a better band to close the evening.

The night wasn’t quite over though…For those who weren’t quite ready to call it a night, I had booked an after party at ESCAPE ALLEY SUNDRY.  I had three amazing bands play.  First was ACID BABY JESUS from Athens, Greece.  I had the extreme pleasure of driving these guys around North America for six weeks this fall as their tour manager. At this point we were about 2 weeks into the tour. Maybe I’m a little partial, but I think these guys have released one of the best LPs of the year on SLOVENLY RECORDINGS. Heavily influenced by 60s garage and psych they add a touch of noise and evilness that makes their songs stand out above the rest and stick really with you.

Up next was CHEAP TIME from Nashville, TN. My brother Jeffrey is the guitar player/singer of Cheap Time, so I’m obviously a huge fan. He writes catchy, quirky punk songs and is more musically productive than anyone I know. I have seen them play countless times, and I this show was maybe one of the best! The new lineup is really solid and the energy seemed to have gone up a few notches.  They are currently on tour with MANNEQUIN MEN from Chicago. The tour makes a stop in Memphis at the Hi-Tone this week on November 25th.

Closing out the after party was PEACH KELLI POP from Ottawa, ON. I was so excited when they contacted me a few weeks before Gonerfest to see if I had room to add them to the show. I bought a copy of their LP at Goner Records last spring, and I love it! To me, they sound exactly like what I would expect a girl band with a name borrowed from a REDD KROSS song.  Their songs are super catchy and fun, and all of the girls are as sweet as their music.  They will be returning to Memphis on December 16^th to play a show at the Hi-Tone with locals TOXIE.

Unfortunately I have no videos of the after party bands.  If you have some that you made, feel free to post them in the comments section!  I’d love to see them!