Shivery Shakes Credit: photo by John Anderson

Shivery Shakes, Jonly Bonly

Holy Mountain, Jan. 5

Neither chilly temps nor Monday malaise halted Free Week as it rolled out of its first weekend into a full week. Sporting a pot-leaf tee and Coke-bottle glasses, Slow singer Garrick Thurston hurtled the quartet through post-punk guitar rock, quickened tune “How Are You” the set-list standout. Next, with garb as sharp as his finessed six-string skill, former OBN III’s guitarist Jason Smith steered trio Jonly Bonly into pop-punk, the singer at times evoking the onstage vocal charisma of B-52s’ Fred Schneider while outwardly channeling Buddy Holly. Weekday bedtimes unheeded, surf-popsters Shivery Shakes rallied the night’s thickest crowd. “Let’s party!” declared (“still hungover”) sunglasses-clad frontman William Glosup. “It’s Free Week!” A pristine cover of Del Shannon’s “Runaway” fit seamlessly alongside the quartet’s similarly beach-breezed retro pop, the song’s slick tightness hinting at years of cohesive practice even though the locals’ debut just dropped. Well after midnight, headliners Grape St. played to a considerably thinner audience, but maintained momentum nonetheless, joking with the crowd between ruffled garage pop.

This article appears in January 9 • 2015.

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