Stuck freaks the frequencies at O’Brien’s Pub on Tuesday, 20 June 2023.

Landowner and Lane battle for L-band supremacy.

Oh hey, Born Yesterday Records. It was a label showcase of sorts at O’Brien’s Pub on Tuesday night.

Two of three bands on the bill, Stuck and Landowner, have full–length LPs out on the boutique, Chicago-based label in 2023. Stuck is touring their latest Freak Frequency, which dropped in May.

One of four members of the headlining act Stuck is a co-proprietor of Born Yesterday Records.

Zero of six releases (a couple of EPs and a slew of singles) by the third band Lane has a physical version.

Jack has eight cats and two dogs. Jill has seven cats and four dogs. How many dogs are there in all?

Rachel has seventeen apples. She gives nine to Sarah. How many apples does Rachel have now?

If Jane has twenty-three cats and I have two cats, and then Jane gives me five cats, how many more cats does Jane have than I?

Lane

Who knew that Lane’s been a thing since 2000 at least? Dig into their Bandcamp and you’ll find recordings that date back to the glory days of Y2K.

You know, the old stuff doesn’t sound that much different from the new stuff. Which shouldn’t be a total surprise, if the project still plays host to the same three musicians after all these years: Jesse Weiss, Ian Kovac, and Jolee Gordon.

If you had to draw a distinction between an older track from 2000 like “Pedal and Lock” and newer tracks off 2021’s EP Theremin, you might say the older stuff trended towards Britpop-inflected production and psychedelia while the newer stuff is stone cold sober, New Wavy, post punk plus prog jammery.

All throughout the Lane timeline the band enjoys funky time signatures and obscure turns of musical phrase. The older stuff is a little more Zappa, while the newer stuff is a Ra Ra Riot-meets-Horse Lords.

But wait... Is this all a put-on or typo? Could that 20+ year timeline be accurate?

Landowner

Straight outta Holyoke, it’s Landowner!

Or “western Massachusetts,” as you like. The five-piece post punkers played a rhythm-forward set with clean guitars and a kind of artcore flair.

Shades of Devo gone hardcore. Very cool syncopation between the guitar parts plus social commentary made for compelling agitpop.

It’s a treat to catch this band this far east. Shows in Easthampton, Greenfield, Amherst, Northampton, Holyoke…

Boston likes to think of itself as the hub of New England, never mind Massachusetts, through which all local cultural goods must flow. Landowner doesn’t seem that into the notion. The band is as likely to strike out toward New York for farther flung gigs.

It makes sense when you look at pure geography. But surely the band will want to book a gig somewhere in the Boston area to celebrate their forthcoming album Escape the Compound, which drops in late July?

ANSWER: True, Yes, Definitely.

Stuck

Chicago’s Stuck were the belles of the ball. Out-of-towners coming through town to showcase their new album. The four-piece manufactures Midwest art punk, which picks up the baton from Lane and Landowner in terms of fascination with repeating musical tropes. Inspired less by Philip Glass, more by stubbornness and mass produced pork products. You know, Vienna Beef.

There’s a particular type of Chicago post punk that Stuck brings to mind. A little too intellectual for HoZac. A little too programmatic, single-minded for Trouble In Mind. Hey, no need to search around. It’s a Born Yesterday vibe, straight up.

Shades of rock lobster (got the crowd dancing). Shades of The Hecks (which are probably shades of shades that shade them both). Shades of Tutu & The Pirates and an entire galaxy of forgotten greats.

Shout out to the hermetic rock stylings of the bassist, turned toward the drums the entire set, à la the enclosed hermetic triangle of rock via Gollylagging or the hermetic quadrangle of rock via Main Era.

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