The Messthetics thoroughly rock the Black Cat on March 18, 2023. (Photo by David LaMason)
Some days you just luck out, and Saturday night at The Black Cat can be counted as an embarrassment of riches with an eclectic mix of some of the best musicians not only under one roof but in one show!
DC’s own The Messthetics co-headlined the evening with Quasi, old friends, as drummer Brendan Canty told the crowd, from Portland, Oregon, in an evening that, as I overheard one person in the crowd say, “All killer and no filler.”
The Messthetics — for the uninitiated — include Canty, Joe Lally on bass, and Anthony Pirog on guitar. The instrumental trio are a powerhouse of rock, groove, and jazz. It’s loud but subtle. Take, for instance, the tune “Pay Dust” — it kicks in right from the start with Lally and Canty having this groove and Pirog’s lyrical melody lines before there’s this distorted freak out just to come back to that motif. A perfect example of those elements — the jazz, the punk — in one composition.
