Viruette debuts new record Waylaid In Aspic at Midway Cafe on Saturday, 4 November 2023.

Why Try? and Whitewood Drive open the Hump Night with NIVI closing on the ones and twos.

“Gas Is Gas.”

That’s what Stan Hatoff says at Hatoff’s Gas Station, a stone’s throw from Midway Cafe.

No one’s quite sure what the phrase means. But it’s undoubtedly true. It’s a tautology. A statement true in virtue of its logical form.

What’s the logical form? Boil it down to the formula A = A, where ‘gas’ is A.

A thing is always identical to itself. If it wasn’t, we’d be in a world of confusion.

On the other hand, when is a ‘not’ not a ‘not’? When it’s not.

Learn this and more on a Hump Night with NIVI at the turntables on close-out duty.

Whitewood Drive

Whitewood Drive drove from Connecticut to open the Hump Night banger. Heavy rock from this four-piece, with gazey flavors and a few metal accents.

Extra points for the jazz grip on the drumsticks. You know, the drummer holds the stick in his left hand, palm upward, using both fingers and wrist to work the percussion. There’s more than one way to skin a cat. You don’t usually see that from a rock drummer. Must have had jazz training. If you listened for it, you could hear the difference in the way the percussion helped articulate the twists and turns of the compositions.

Why Try?

The local four-piece Why Try? surfed genres in the second slot. Tablespoons of protopunkery, pop-loving spoonfulls of Big Star meets Ramones. Sprinkles of softer jammery. Generous helpings of alt rock. Enjoy the meal and quaff in good health with a Narragansett from Lenny.

Viruette

A night to celebrate the release of Viruette’s LP (or EP? it’s riding that line) Waylaid In Aspic. Available for streaming via the usual platforms, though the frontman indicated the physical version might not surface until the first half of 2024.

The super-charged “trans-Atlantic indie rock” trio hotfooted its way through the album. Shades of Hives in live performance. A high energy crew with the hooks, and fills, and flash-bang chord progressions to keep the motor running.

If you quick-listened to the recorded material at a streaming platform, you might have been struck by slower tempo pop psych numbers like “Pollyanna (You’re My Billboard).” Did Viruette play that song on Saturday? Our fact-checking department is on the case. The band can drive in multiple gears, but the record release set felt pedal-to-floor all the way.

NIVI

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