Slobberbone Continental Club June 3, 2011

Maybe it was the lack of warning. Aftermath received notice of last Friday night's Slobberbone show at the Continental Club less than a week prior, and the gig itself was merely one date on a mini-tour among the band's usual Texas stops (Austin and Dallas included).

So perhaps that was it. Possibly it was the lack of a new album to and the accompanying buzz that would normally greet such an occasion. Or maybe folks were getting hydrated and rested up for Summer Fest. Whatever the reason, a scant 75 people were on hand to see the latest performance by - in our humble opinion - one of the best live bands around. A far cry from the packed house Slobberbone played to last August.

Your loss, suckers.

Friday night's set was long on nostalgia, short on anything post-Everything You Thought Was Right Was Wrong Today, the band's third release. In fact, they avoided playing anything off of 2002's Slippage entirely, concentrating heavily on debut Crow Pot Pie and Barrel Chested.

As far as Aftermath was concerned, they could play nothing but Cars covers ("Just What I Needed" is one of their better ones), we're that fond of them, and BC might be our overall favorite album of theirs. They led right in with "Front Porch" from that release, not letting up with "Placemat Blues," the band's searing middle finger to mainstream radio, followed by the punk-tinged "Lame" and "Barrel Chested."

Part of the fun of a Slobberbone show is the chemistry between the band members. Lead singer/guitarist Brent Best goofs around with bassist Brian Lane and lead guitarist Jess Barr constantly, and if half their onstage banter feels like in-jokes between the band, it's probably because they are; smart-assed asides and good-natured ribbing forged by almost 15 years of nigh nonstop touring, both with Slobberbone and the Brian Lane-less Drams, formed in 2005.

Though, nobody seems to make much fun of Tony Harper. Drummers are notoriously ill-tempered, after all.