By Jack Betz

I showed up last night at Walter’s to watch Benjamin Wesley only to find that I had the wrong night, but no matter, Mike told me that Roky Moon was playing an acoustic set with some T. Rex and David Bowie thrown in. He played some original songs along with “Raw Ramp” by T. Rex and “All the Young Dudes” by Bowie and it was very satisfying. Unfortunately his set was only about fifteen minutes long and I definitely wanted to hear some more. He’ll be playing with keyboard player Cassie Hargrove next week at Walter’s.

Darwin’s Finches, from Galveston Texas, went on next and they rocked exceedingly hard. The band was fronted by this very timid, reserved-looking, guy but when he got up on stage he shredded in a way I’ve seen few people shred before. He was positively electric on stage as he squirmed and jumped and rocked. The vocals were great too, they reminded me of a higher-pitched, more articulate Les Claypool. One of the best parts of their set was a super-raw, garage-rock, cover of “Surfin’ Bird” by the Trashmen complete with water sounds and the bizarre “oom-pow-pow”. The members are really nice guys too. Check out their music.

The last band on was Young Girls. I talked to them a little before the show and apparently it was only their second or third show together but they definitely brought it. They had a tight, clean, well-composed indie-pop sound that made me want to dance during their entire set. Young Girls did a very good job using their bass playing effectively and used it to produce complex melodies when compared to an average indie band. Here is their myspace.

Mike, who has a lot to do with booking at Walter’s, told me that Walter’s will be doing a series of free Thursday night shows. Benjamin Wesley and Roky Moon should be playing next Thursday.