Blood On The Wall at the Trocadero

Blood On The Wall, "When You Go Out Walking"

Blood On The Wall, "Mae Abiline"

Blood On The Wall, "Baby Likes To Holler"

In all the Yeah Yeah Yeahs excitement, I almost forgot to mention the opening set by Pound for Pound favorite, Blood On The Wall. It wasn't because the trio didn't do the damn thing. On the contrary, they put on a great set that the YYYs built on. Unlike Love Is All, however, they did not overshadow the headliners.

It was a strange show at times, as the stage seemed to dwarf the band members. There were lots of awkward pauses, the crowd was obnoxiously loud, especially in my section and there was waaaaaayyy too much tuning by the band. It seemed like a nervous tic, honestly, and diminshed from the sheer awesomeness of their songs and music.

With all that said, mang, Blood On The Wall is the real deal. This shit sounded so good, even in a big venue like the Troc. They came out firing with "Stoner Jam", and played mostly tracks from the most recent album. They sound even heavier live, as there was a point where the sibling guitarists were headbanging and playing this loud, heavy shit that made me jealous that I hadn't grown up listening to Megadeth and Slayer, wearing black t-shirts with the band's name on them and hating my parents from the privelege of suburban ennui. For the record, that feeling disappeared quite quickly, replaced by my normal feelings of self-loathing and general fear. My main thought at the end of the show was bringing the trio back to Philly for an intimate, club show, where they could feel free to go crazy, destroy the audience, just wreck shit. I'mma try to make this happen, as it's time to start making Pound for Pound's presence felt on the streets too.

The above tracks come from the band's self-titled debut, Blood On The Wall. It's a pretty amazing first album, as their sound seems to have been built in their DNA, as you will hear the same energy, the rotating male-female vocals, rock riffs, great hooks and fine sopngwriting that you hear on Awesomer. This one is a little more lo-fi, and I don't feel like any of the tracks are bonafide hits. Buy it here, I recommend it highly. It's just a good, consistent album, a warning of the great things to come. You've been warned now.