What Band Wrote the 2000 Classic “Teenage Dirtbag”?
Intricate Mouse Work put on their lab coats at Midway Cafe on Saturday, 19 April 2025.
Late Night Idle, The Roland High Life, and Past Life Crisis open the fourstack bill.
Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix
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Hump Nights
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Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix 〰️ Hump Nights 〰️
Hump Nights
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Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix
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Hump Nights 〰️ Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix 〰️
Past Life Crisis
Past Life Crisis
Past Life Crisis, a four-piece, performed a set of hard rock originals in the opening slot at Midway Cafe. Their Spring Tour resumes June 14 at The Jungle. The month-long layover will give the band much needed rest and time to get in touch with their inner selves.
The Roland High Life
The Roland High Life
The Roland High Life, a five-piece, introduced some new original material, along with a cover of the classic “Teenage Dirtbag.” The song is an Aughtsy teencore gem whose fame will likely outlast and outshine the band that originally wrote and performed it. I mean, Wheatus? Good tidbit for bar trivia though.
Late Night Idle
Late Night Idle
Late Night Idle performed as a four-piece, plus a quick cameo by a stand-in guitarist. Rock n roll, taking its toll. At least one song was a real throwback to 50s pop.
A gaggle of gals were having a ball in the pit all night. I was trying to guess which band they showed up for. The key indicators are always: (1) whose set did they cheer for the loudest, and (2) whose set did they leave right after? But they ended up staying all night, so maybe they were just there for themselves, the music, and a few cans of Truly. They dug Late Night Idle though.
Late Night Idle’s Deezer page hits a dead end redirect via their Linktree link via their Instagram page. If any of that means anything to you, then you’ve already been initiated into the grim world of self-promotional, online footprint drudgery that is part of being a gigging band in 2025. How many platforms does a band need to juggle in order to get their music heard? Spotify, Youtube, Tidal, iTunes? It’s endless.
I always recommend Bandcamp for ease of use, cross platform functionality, and a solid editorial wing that spotlights new music. But I’m prepared to listen to an argument that the site is in decline after a pair of corporate acquisitions.
There’s a new platform called Subvert that I find intriguing, though it’s not yet operational. It bills itself as a “collectively-owned Bandcamp successor.”
Why shouldn’t these platforms be collectively-owned and -operated? There’s no real technological hurdle that needs a lot of capital investment to clear. The software required is well-established, old hat, and has been cloned dozens of times by corporate hacks with new branding. Open source it, keep it simple, turn it over to the people.
Intricate Mouse Work
Intricate Mouse Work
A mathy three-piece out of Portland, Maine. Intricate Mouse Work folds a few other genres as well, searching the sonic space with the classic rock n roll trio of guitar, bass, and drums, plus a double bank of synths when they’re feeling saucy.
The band name sounds like a sidelong reference to animal testing and experimentation. I once had a girlfriend who cut cross-sections of mice brains for summer work. It had a negative impact on her morale.
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Intricate Mouse Work put on their lab coats at Midway Cafe.