Glowing Heads, the Howitzers, Colleen Green, and Meth House Party Band @ the Compound (March 12, 2011)

by Alex Pow

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This was the first Compound show I’ve been to in a while, and it was the best show I have ever been to in my life. I used to go when my friends’ hardcore band played there, but since they split up I haven’t been. After Saturday’s show, I’ll do my best to never miss another one. 

Glowing Heads played first, and I’m embarrassed to admit that I missed their whole set except for the last half of the last song. What I heard (a sweet bass-line and some dreamy synthesizers) was awesome and I’ll be at their next show no matter where it is - I promise.

The Howitzers, a garage-rock three-piece, played second; I hear that some of the members used to be in The Yaks, another band in Provo that stopped playing before I moved here. I was impressed by the guitarist, who played some sexy, psychedelic guitar riffs and solos. Mid-set the vocalist/bassist said to the guitarist, “I told you to do more stuff.” I think he was doing plenty of stuff. They asked if anyone liked playing Super Metroid and then said the next song was called “Samus.” So, yeah, awesome. I thought it was very appropriate that the vocalist was wearing sunglasses and standing directly in front of the dartboard, so the warning sign above him read, “IF YOU HIT THE WALL YOUR CLOTHES HAVE TO COME OFF.” Sexy.

Colleen Green, touring from LA, started setting up, and I knew I was going to love them before they even played their first song. Colleen introduced the bassist as her friend Melissa (hope I got that right), and the two girls set up a drum machine, put on their sunglasses and started playing a song that instantly brought Dum Dum Girls (one of my favorite bands) to mind - their long, dark hair probably also had a little to do with that. I don’t know why I hadn’t heard of Colleen Green before, but thank goodness I have now. Colleen has a sweet, but also kind of droney voice, and the steady beats of the drum machine provided an interesting contrast to the fuzzy guitar. The second song they played was a cover of The Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated,” and it ruled. After the set was over, we all started asking for one more song, and so they played another one for us. I bought the “Green One” 7” after the show - it’s the best thing I’ve bought this year (I might even like it better than the new Dum Dum Girls EP). Colleen Green is the reason this was the best show I have ever been to. Thank you, Colleen.

Meth House Party Band played last, and before one of their songs they said “this is about being fans of The Cramps in Idaho Falls.” I think that may be the best way to describe how they sounded - very punk-rock. The bass drum had a skull and crossbones spray painted on it, but with Pacman instead of a skull. 

I hope you'll all go to a Compound show. They’re always fun, and you can find out about some great bands. 

thanxxxx4reading

- Alex Pow