DADDY ISSUES had the crowd bobbing their head in rhythmic reverie

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TUESDAY 04/12/16 – NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Music is everywhere. Like a static charge that fills the air with explosive anticipation, it constantly looks for an outlet worthy of the impending surge. On Tuesday night, Mercury Lounge and its fine tuned talent antennas stood ready to receive the always welcome transmission of the garage sound. This time, it was courtesy of Daddy Issues, a Nashville punk rock trio, whose nearly one hour set kept the crowd bobbing their heads in a rhythmic reverie.

Yes, they are girls, young twenty-somethings made up of Jenna Moynihan (vocals), Jenna Mitchell (bass), and Emily Maxwell (drums). Their style is stripped of glitter and largely of glamour but is full of hope. I am a firm believer in the cyclical nature of music and if I’m only half crazy, then the musical scene is on the verge of rebirth, circa iconic 90’s.

There was some resemblance to Foo Fighters, when the band opened up with “Unicorns & Rainbows”, a frenzied and grungy proclamation of independence from the pre-conceived notions and expectations. “I’m Not Sleepin’ With You” is Moynihan’s lyrical bitch slap to the would-be man suitors of convention. With stoic demeanor and an undeniable undercurrent of raw emotion, the band continued their onslaught with “Ugly When I Cry”, a dark tale of self-loathing set to a four chord progression reminiscent of Blur’s Song 2 played in minor key. The set also included a nod to the good ol’ days via distorted cover of Don Henley’s “The Boys Of Summer” as well as a beautifully crafted “Creepy Girl” – a slow moving morphing into “a creepy bitch” that culminated in a loud bass and guitar bridge. Few more grungy numbers followed to close the set with the captivated audience refusing to disturb the ever present resonance of one of the rock’s heydays in between songs.

Punk Rock or not, the sound of musical authenticity is finding its way back to the slowly forming matrix of artistic revival. Daddy Issues show was a raw, vintage, and unpretentious peek through a keyhole with many more and exciting bands on the other side of the imaginary door.