All words: Josh Stewart — All photos: Shauna Alexander

It was a certified, sold-out show at the Red Palace last Friday.  I could barely move inside the tiny bar, but the energy was so good, it didn’t really matter.

First, I caught the last few songs of Heavy Cream.  Like Jeff the Brotherhood, the Nashville (what are they putting in the water down there) trio powered through rock n’ roll gems that combined the allure and pop sensibility of The Ronettes but with a powerful punk edge.

Jeff the Brotherhood is not a cult.  Better… it is the brothers Jake and Jamin Orrall from Nashville, Tennessee.

As they arrived on stage,  jorts clad, the band’s first few songs brought a collective barrage of head nods that eventually evolved into grade A, post-metal head-banging.  So much so, that I was left with what Jake from JTB called a “bang-over”.  (head-bang hang-over, you nerds)  Remember the first 15 seconds of “Paranoid” by Black Sabbath?  Well JTB is that, over and over and over.

Until Friday, I hadn’t heard a really good pick scrape since, my metal phase in junior high.  Riffs rolled over you like the tides of the Chattanooga River.   The noise was so important the sound of the band.  A wall of sound, baritone level guitar growled over equally noisy and raucous vocals.  The sound of the band kind of made you think… who really needs a bass?  Guitar player Jake, even broke sting and it still sounded cool.

Then there was an awkward restring that led to a prolonged intermission.  This where the power stances, cool beards, and Inquisition t-shirt faded away to a little anxiety, as drummer Jamin climbed to the top of the guitar amps, and Jake declared… “Ya’ll make me nervous.”

The band picked up steam again with crowd favorites, “Heavy Damage”, “Mellow Out” and several fiery new tracks.

For the finale, Jake flew into the crowd, for a non-sensical Eruption moment and after several false starts, the crowd couldn’t resist and embraced a full blown mosh- pit.  Shoving.  Pushing.  Crowd surfing.  A GIRL even fell down.

The bottom line is these, two guys are playing rock n roll as if there is no other way to play it. Loud, heavy, fast, and with a dose of earnest pop.

For fans of garage, Tame Impala and the post-psych rock vibes, grab their latest album “Hypnotic Nights” on July 17 and catch em’ on tour.

This post was brought to you by bud heavy and jorts.