Wednesday night I escaped the SXSW madness of downtown Austin, and strolled to the east side of town. I ended up at the Burger Records Burgerstock party at Trailer Space. The outside teamed with sweaty twenty-somethings smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol out of paper bags. Inside was even better; little did I know that Trailer Space was an independent record store specializing in punk and indie rock. Bands played D.I.Y. style, crammed in a corner with a bad P.A., surrounded by a crowd of people. People crammed in between rows of vinyls and CDs smoking cigarettes and pounding alcohol, ready to mosh and slam into each other. I got to Trailer Space just in time for Chicago red headed brother-sister power rock duo White Mystery.
White Mystery slammed down a quacking set of sweaty, stomping rock and roll. More specifically take ’70s metal, a touch of garage rock, some feedback and a bit of glam, and you have got yourself a party. Front woman Alex White shredded on guitar while wailing into the mic, while her brother Francis Scott Key White slammed on the drums, red curls flying in the aftermath. Closing out the night was punk rock trio Mean Jeans from Portland.
By the time Mean Jeans played nearly everyone was in the space was intoxicated and ready to get rowdy. The band played to the energy, starting a mosh circle about five seconds in. Fans stomped, shoved and jumped around to the driving gritty garage punk, including several golden Creedence Clearwater Revival covers; at one point lead singer Billy Jeans got socked in the face by an overzealous fan. One fellow with a jerry curl mullet and blue plaid shirt managed to crowd surf in the tiny space, as well as climb a stack of amps and jump into the crowd.
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