The Swingin’ Utters are back with a brand spanking new album (Poorly Formed, released February 19 on Fat Wreck Chords) and a new headlining tour which hit San Francisco’s Slim’s last night before the band heads north.
The crowd started the night seemingly held back from the stage by a 10 foot force field for The Impalers’ set but as the drinks flowed, folks gradually stepped up mid-way through The Inciters performance. The reggae and soul from the openers may have been a bit of a shock for the packed house, but as the Utters’ set time rolled close, people sauntered up to the front and when the Utters finally busted into their first song at 10:30 sharp all that pent up energy and aggression was released and, well … people went nuts.
Not surprisingly, the setlist drew extensively from the new effort, mixed in among the expected classics . Given how different Poorly Formed is from previous records, the band almost seemed a little worried about how the new material would be received. While more groove-oriented songs like “The Librarians Are Hiding Something,” “Military Barbara Billingsley” and “Brains” didn’t elicit the same fervent reaction as the older material (hey, the record has been out less than a week), people were definitely into them and there’s no doubt that this material deserves a place in the broader Swingin’ Utters catalog.
So after all that, how do you know that it was a great show? By the look of the stage littered with bottles, glassware and tossed equipment after the cyclone that is the Swingin’ Utters walked off of it. Don’t miss them when they swing through your town.
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