Annual Free Weekend with Chomp/Smooth Brain/Classic Sand/DJ Alright

Chomp and Smooth Brain, two of the locals on this show, part of the Grog Shop’s Annual Free Weekend, have plenty going for them. Joe Boyer, the former guitarist in local-gone-national indie rock sensations the Cloud Nothings, formed Chomp with Jayson Gerycz and Chris Brown (not that Brown, the hip-hop singer, rest assured) to go in a different musical direction. The band’s debut, Buddha, Jamba, Mamma, is a compilation of both new recordings and stuff Boyer wrote during his Cloud Nothings days. Throughout the album, the uncontrolled clash of fast-paced guitar playing and slamming percussion makes the lyrics hard to decipher. While not, by any means, screamo, the band embraces a 1990s alternative style, with most of their songs sounding the same and the vocals occasionally off-key. Smooth Brain, a band paralleling the work of Chomp, produces similar head-banging work. Their music muffles the vocals of the singers, adding to the unnervingly fast-paced beat featured in all of their songs on their album, Fleas 7. The electric guitar, however, has a more prominent role in their music, which sometimes borders on metal. After sitting through the abrupt stops and random yelling, the head-banging audience may need a strong dose of Advil. (Allison Barwacz)