Faces Brewing Co. has been killing it lately with local triple bills. I haven't made it out to anywhere near as many as I've wanted to, but when two favorites get booked together (The Devil's Twins and Aaron & The Lord), I simply couldn't miss it. Kingshot was the third band of the night, and ended up being a great discovery.
Aaron & The Lord opened up the night, and were the only band not celebrating a new album release. They opened up with "The Darkness," and guitarist Steven Lord was already on his knees playing before the song even started. That's usually reserved for well into a noise rock song, but it's also the secret of an Aaron & The Lord live show. The band plays these perfectly crafted alt-rock/pop songs that are irresistibly beautiful, even though they are filled with darkness and noise. You can easily get swept away by how simply beautiful a song like "Lilydale" is without even noticing how much noise lurks beneath, or vice versa. This is the third time I've seen them, and each performance has gotten tighter and more intense.
Kingshot played next, celebrating the release of their album. (They mentioned some of the songs had been written in 2013, and at first I forgot how long ago that was...) The band includes The Devil's Twins' trumpet player Eric Ortiz on bass, but has a completely different sound. However, that sound is nearly impossible to define. Some songs were completely mainstream and straightforward alt-rock, while others had a much more pop punk sound. And then there was their metal side, which peeked through during most songs with guitar solos. My personal favorite of their songs were their straight up thrash metal ones. Not many bands can pull off so many genres and have it all work together seemlessly, but Kingshot pulled it off.
The Devil's Twins closed out the night by focusing on their recently released (and great!) album HORNS. A lot of these songs have been in their repertoire for a few years now, but they always seem to find a way to keep it fresh. It could be that Jeremiah John Louf and Nicole Marie Coogan are such dynamic performers that it's virtually impossible not to be entranced by anything they are doing. Plus, no one quite mixes blues, metal, and roots the way they do. Every show of The Devil's Twins I've seen just breaks out into a party of pure joy, and Friday night was no exception. There are just some bands that are good on an album, but great live, and this is one of them. They remain one of the true must see acts in New England.
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