San Diego showed up the Echo’s Part Time Punks this Sunday, with Christmas Island (a low-fi three piece that has an LP coming out on In the Red Records, though the sound is equally at home on any Messthetics DIY comp) and The Muslims (recent San Diego-to-L.A. punk transplants) heading the bill. Seeing Christmas Island on stage felt like watching a band practicing in a garage, as they seemed completely oblivious to the crowd in front of them while they ripped through their low-tempo punk-thrash. After Christmas Island was a surprise performance by a bunch of elementary school-aged kids playing a song called “Part Time Punks.”  And tasked with that tough follow-up were the Muslims, a band I have been a huge fan of since playing a Fuck Yeah Fest afterparty with them last year.  The band was in top form Sunday, with a packed Echo crowd dancing around and singing along.  They played their recent self-titled EP in what seemed like its ten-song entirety and added in a few new ones, too. But the real treat was their closing cover of Spacemen 3’s “Sound of Confusion,” which they droned out almost perfectly.

– Daniel Clodfelter