Davila 666, Mannequin Men, Nobunny
Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2009
Thee Parkside

Better than: Getting a massage.

When there's a holiday at the end of the week, everything gets moved up a day. So Monday's the new Tuesday, Tuesday's the new Wednesday, and, because of this scientific acceleration, Wednesday's the new Friday night. Last night at Thee Parkside, the crowd was as impatient to trade in the middle of the week for its end as the bands were amped to act like the end was here. The club filled with the sounds and the stumbling arounds (and into walls, for some girls near me) of pure weekend release.

There was good reason for there to be a party going down at Thee Parkside. Two of the best bands on the rock/garage circuit, Chicago's Mannequin Men and Puerto Rico's Davila 666, were in town, supported by our own rascally rabbit, Nobunny .

Nobunny is a special breed of furry pervert, giving '50s rock 'n' roll a filthy beer gut sensibility, Dictators style. He's a smart-ass character in grimy cartoonish fur, and his trash- and fun-loving songs about girls and punk and puns ("Motorhead with Me!") forcibly prevent serious analysis. The 'Bunny performs with a full band, including a shirtless Marcos from Rock N Roll Adventure Kids on bass, a cottontail tucked into his asscrack. The vocals, and the set itself, was rough as your tongue during a bad whiskey hangover, which only makes the performance all the more fun. Last night's show was Nobunny's second to last, however. There's one more gig coming up--for Budget Rock at the end of October--after which, Nobunny explained, "I'm gonna die."

Mannequin Men haven't planned their funeral. Instead they blast through music haunted by the ghosts of college rock past. Anchored by the raspy, growling vocals of Kevin Richard, the band does a pretty incredible job of careening through the '90s while keeping a strong punk identity, and a super tight aesthetic, of its own intact. The songs off the excellent new Lose Your Illusion, Too reference predecessors ranging from the Wipers to the Replacements and Mission of Burma, the dissonant guitars and light sarcasm driving their tunes deep into memory.

Richard added to that list of influences by throwing a couple covers into the set--by the Television Personalities and Cleveland legends Pagans, throwing out a dedication to Youth Brigade along the way.

The drummer added two tunes to the mix, taking over vocals for one number telling a chick she needs to get some hobbies, and an ode to youth that lamented the lost days of jacking off with the windows wide open. You can't say these Men aren't sentimental. 

For their last song, the Mannequin Men brought members of Davila 666 on stage, the Puerto Rican guitarist in a captain's hat only too happy to share a mike with his tourmates.

When Davila hit the stage solo, though, Thee Parkside really came to life. Each of the songs by these Spanish-singing garage punks explodes like a little stack of dynamite, lit by gang vocals, or high wolf howls, or a tempo that moves swiftly as a schoolyard fight. They are indeed the Latin American Black Lips, minus the pissing and the spitting (ok, there  was a little spitting) and the gold fronts on the teeth. The group was pure unadulturated fun, of the sloppiest kind. Their guitars went out of tune or fed back between songs, and the sound was blown out compared to the tight live show they race through on their debut... but that being said, their giddy rock 'n' roll delinquent spirit was downright infectious.

The crowd pogo'd along, howled with the band like a pack of stray dogs, and otherwise gave Davilia their full bodied attention as the music moved from surf rock to Dead Boys to pop punk. For their part the group looked like they were enjoying the show just as much as we were, as they poured beer into each other's mouths, or mumbled banter in Spanish and English into the mikes. Like this holiday week, the performance felt like it was all over before it started, the pencil-mustacioed singer announcing, "That's it, motherfuckers, that's it," and taking off from the stage, leaving us wanting another round.

Critic's notebook

Personal bias: On the garage/punk rock front, Davila 666 and Mannequin Men have released two of my favorite records in the last year or so--although I'd have to also add The Strange Boys to that list.