Photos and review by ALYSON CAMUS
LOS ANGELES – The first time I saw The Schizophonics, I was blown away by their performance. I saw them again at the Echo on Thursday night, and, one more time, I was blown away by their incendiary number.
There is no scientific explanation for such velocity and agility while playing high-energy Rock N Roll, but The Schizophonics manage to do it every time. Singer-guitarist Pat Beers barely touches the ground; he is the essence of garage rock and flies like a bullet train through his set. He repetitively leaps in the air with his guitar in his hands, performs splits after splits, and rolls his back on stage without missing a note of their fuzzy, funky psychedelic rock songs.
It’s hard to not be impressed by the San Diego band which has been touring in the US and the UK these past months. Pat doesn’t do it alone and the rhythm section heroically follows his adrenalized antics and multiple fuzz attacks. Lety Beers is the drummer and Tommy Lambert Granger is on bass. They mesh well with Pat’s talents, which embody all the greats of the past. It’s easy to see the reincarnation of The Stooges and MC5‘s fury in Pat’s restless stage antics, completed by James Brown’s stylish twirls, Chuck Berry’s grooves, and Jimi Hendrix‘ distortion.
Beyond the performance, the Schizophonics’ music is awesome. It is a delight for all Rock N Rollers, a revival of the most passionate punk rock of the past decades, executed with passion and infectious grooves. After a split, several jumps all legs apart and a few rolls on stage, Pat spins and kneels with a bottomless energy, as if he was possessed by all the demons of Rock N Roll. There is no possible explanation for such energy and talent. Pat never gets entangled in the guitar chords despite the multiple jumps and swirls, and, surprisingly, the music never stops.
During the entire set, there was not even one slow song, which could have allowed Pat to catch his breath in between the flying, spinning, splitting and twirling. It was rather 70 minutes of pure rock, driven by a fast beat, a complete high-speed affair that’s rarely seen. It was hard to follow Pat’s every move: He would tip the mic stand as if he was Iggy Pop, jump in the audience for a song, and leap back on stage with each one of his moves defying the laws of gravity.
The Schizophonics have been around since 2009 and have built a loyal following.
“It makes me emotional,” Pat told the audience when he recognized a few familiar faces in the venue.
But the great showman barely stopped to talk to us, and he was immediately back playing his guitar from every possible angle, channeling the grit of the ‘70s punk rock. I didn’t see any set list on stage – with all this chaos, it would have disappeared at the first song anyway – but they certainly played the heavily-charged songs from their 2022 album “Hoof It,” as well as an MC5 cover dedicated to the recently passed Wayne Kramer.
You can count on the Schizophonics to deliver an explosive and simply jaw-dropping performance. They are the wildest band alive and a not-to-be-missed act if you want to truly feel alive.
Trap Girl and Kuromi opened the evening with two garage punk sets. Kuromi – or is it Kuromy since Sanrio copyrighted them? – was a riot grrrl band that was rushing through their songs with screamed harmonies, fast drums, and guitars wrapped with joyful energy.
Fronted by trans-Latina Drew Arriola-Sands, Trap Girl hit hard with their brutal and unapologetic songs, injecting hardcore punk into a glamorous edge. Drew came on stage with high heels, black veils, and a beehive, looking like a punk rock diva who wanted to eat us alive.
Check out Trap Girl here:
Check out Kuromy here:
