On The Scene: Temple 08-06-2013

More love out of Shanghai – tonight brought the irreplaceable 90s harvested gender-confused rockers Friend or Foe, who used Temple as their playground. But not until we were treated to fresh on the block (again) noise rockers Yantiao and \’how will we not melt your face off with our sheer awesomeness\’ Residence A. There\’s no way my soul was gonna be saved.

Sex dolls, breaking curfew, putting out, Dog Day Afternoon references, nothing is sacred with these boys. Check below for more from Yantiao, Residence A, and of course Friend or Foe. Gotta love the Go Pro drummer angle – fucking hilarious.

After hearing much of Yantiao\’s first gig from outside of the Old What?\’s dingy establishment, I\’m shocked as to how much they connected today. I think it\’s safe to say these cats mean business.

Veering between earnest melodic indie rock and unhinged noise rock. It\’s a tight rope, and at times doesn\’t always mold together as seamlessly as it could. In fact, a few of a my friends simply couldn\’t get into it – but they\’re punks any who.

When they hit, and you feel the sincerity in Shen\’s vocals, it\’s indie bliss. It\’ll be interesting to see where Yantiao take it from here.

Residence A in Temple. Thanks the rock gods for making this occasion come true. I\’ve been waiting for this. Heck, I\’m just gonna stop talking, just watch already.

Just set these guys up in McDonalds, 7-Eleven, KFC, I don\’t give a rats ass – they\’ll kill it. Just rain them in praise people – they deserve every bit.

Not gonna lie, following Res A was gonna be a bitch no matter what, but Friend or Foe kicked off into fine form. Their brand of sneering, light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek, \’kick a baby to the curve\’ rock and roll is just too hard to resist.

While it\’s evident the trio are having more fun tweaking their old material – vocal effects, drawn-out solos, and plain old musical mischief (did you catch Adam bitting it at the 3:20 mark above cause it\’s just so good) , it\’s their newer stuff that\’s really hitting the spot form for me.

While content-wise it\’s the usual Friend or Foe fare, there\’s a genuine appreciation and commitment to how the songs come together. Left turns, callbacks, and tempo changes, it\’s anything but predictable. They\’re really coming into their own it seems, and that my friends is something to get excited about.

Or drummer man boobs – can seriously watch those puppies bounce all day. Thank the lords for the Go Pro.