When the Austin quartet took to the stage, the tightly packed room rose to a comfortable hundred and three degrees; all the norm for the Smell—it’s not rock and roll without a pit-stain! The Texan ruffians are in the midst of a west coast tour, leaving a trail of new fans and empty beer cans. As the sweat dripped from my forehead, vocalist and guitarist Ryan Sambol’s high-pitched squeals pierced through the ram-shackled and ear-spitting guitar volley of “Poem Party.”  As the amps were cranked and treble set to ten, a young looking and spastic crowd, including pro-skater Andrew Reynolds shuffled and shimmied around to the delta blues inspired “Who Needs Who More.” As the notes on my sweat soaked notepad started to blur, visions of Bo Diddley fronting the Kinks ran through my head as the twenty somethings played through “Heard You Wanna Beat Me Up.” Guitarist Greg Enlow smoothly ran through riffs, rarely even having to look down at the fret board while staring blankly into the crowd of flannel shirts. While, aptly named drummer, Matt Hammer crashed through his ride cymbal and snare, Enlow made the use of feed back look like an art-form while leaving me wanting a swig of Old Crow and a bath.

—Carlos Villarreal