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Berkshire Hounds

Strange to think, while you're watching the Berkshire Hounds set up, that such a hodgepodge crew could bust some of the city's best young rock & roll. The sixpiece amalgamation's a mess, with signals getting crossed everywhere, guys leaving the stage unannounced, and a horn section that looks like they're about to take a nap on your dorm room couch. Then there's longhair trombonist Lee Rickard's insistence on wearing shorts in 30-degree weather and trumpeter Royce the Strange's refusal to remove his winter coat. Rev up Spencer Garland's organ and it's on, though. 2012 Greatest Hits' opener "No More Neighbors" boogies into fellow bandleader Jim Campo's gritty "Brighter Days Idle Ways," before Garland grabs his Telecaster and the two teleport into last October's Are Not Amused via an electrified take on dejected country rocker "All the Cigarettes I've Lit." Garland's a maestro on the keyboard, but more of a background on guitar, an instrument owned by Campo throughout the night. That proved evident in the band's closer, "Little Secret," a footloose blues shouting rebellion from the rooftops.