Show Review: Ben Weasel/Jetty Boys/Chinese Telephones/Repellents @ Reggies 8/22/08

Friday night, my buddy Tim and I headed down to Reggie's for a night of Ben Weasel and company covering the entirety of the Screeching Weasel classic, My Brain Hurts.
The first band up was the Repellents, a band that has been around since the mid 90's hailing for south suburban Blue Island. Their style is reminiscent of many of the bands that I saw at the Fireside Bowl "back in the day." Their set was fun and despite not really knowing any of the songs, they held my attention for the duration of their set.
Next up was Milwaukee Wisconsin's Chinese Telephones. I was terribly excited to see these kids, because I'm damn near obsessed with their self titled full length. They played a solid set that did not disappoint, consisting of their beer stained style of pop punk.
Sheboygan Wisconsin's Jetty Boys followed them and I was blown away. I didn't really know what to expect, because I'd never heard them. The only thing I knew of them was that the guitarist, Drew, is in Ben Weasel's band. Live, their music comes across as high energy pop punk, not unlike the Mr T Experience. On record, they sound more like the bastard sons of the Jam and the Ramones than anything else.
The one thing that I could appreciate about the Jetty Boys was that it was very obvious that Drew can play guitar very well and could easily shred over every song, but had just the right amount of restraint. The solos, and there were many, were just over the top enough to where it was still tasteful and fun.
Their rhythm section is solid and entertaining and were able to keep up with their leader's stage antics. They were definitely the pleasant surprise of the evening.
Finally, after three excellent Midwest punk bands warmed up the crowd, Ben Weasel and his armada took the stage. The crowd chanted "Danny Vapid" repeatedly as Dan worked out some technical difficulties with his amp. Once the set got started, they barreled through side A of My Brain Hurts. Ben stopped the set and talked for a little bit, egged on the audience and jumped right into side B.
Once the record was done, the band went on to do a set of Screeching Weasel songs, a pair of Riverdales tracks and a tune off of Ben's most recent solo album, These Ones Are Bitter.
All in all, the night was great fun and we got to sing along to some classic Chicago pop punk. Weasel will be playing again November 14th and 15th at Reggie's with the Challenged and the Girls. For more info, check out the MPShows web site listed below.
Ben Weasel
MP Shows