This weekend in Orlando, Florida, the hotly anticipated World's Gone Wiggly Fest, curated by Florida's Dying's new record store, Wiggly World, heats up and delivers three solid days of brain-draining good times. In case you hadn't heard, Wiggly World is now open for business and should lay even more of a solid foundation to the burgeoning spring of promise that Florida has become over the past several years. Not to mention, having the ability of bands playing shows in the parking lot makes the whole idea even better. Starting off with Friday's showcase at Crooked Bayou are local all-girl band Garbo's Daughter, who proffer up a gummed-up take on teen fuzz-pop sweetness, executed with enough sugary spirit and Wally Bryson references to spare. And just as the momentum starts to really pick up, Milwaukee's Plexi 3 break out their gear and pack on a mod-pop explosion that you just can't miss. With an unrelenting zealous attack, Plexi 3 channel the pure sensation of The Dickies and hard-wire it down to a tightly keen girl group sound, soaked in the essence of The Who, and if you haven't already got ahold of their latest records, the Timebox 7" on Full Breach Kicks, and the debut LP on Bachelor Records, then you'd better track 'em down. Next up are Connecticut's great Estrogen Highs, who are riding high on the accolades of their two knockout singles last year, and still keep it interesting with their frantically melodic quirk-pop that'll keep you gyrating with adulation the whole set. And who to top off the first night? Chicago's teen smashers, The Smith Westerns clean the plate with a walloping pop explosion that just seems too good to be true, as you'll soon hear on their debut LP out this month on HoZac, due to arrive at any second, as of press-time. With the refreshing synergy they instill between teen glam bravado and the innocent simplicity of budget rock, it's truly a combination that will blow your head off with thrills of effective extravagance, like few others can pull off on home studio recordings these days. And live, these guys pour their hearts into it, so don't pass out behind the gas station bathroom and get up front for this unforgettable show.
Saturday will roll around sooner than you want, but do not miss out on the 3PM afternoon show in the Wiggly World parking lot, where you'll be dazed and amazed by the stellar all-state lineup showcasing Florida's best of the moment. Kicking off with Lil Daggers and Church of My Love (the latter formerly known as the Love Acts), these two bands will get the blood flowing and will help work up the urge to start pounding beers again, so don't sleep in too late and miss out. Next up are Florida's Dying head dude Rich's band Slippery Slopes, who will surely bash out the bad vibrations with their choppy scum pop emissions of grandeur, only barely evident on their split 7" with Johnny & the Limelites released last Summer, but they are really down to pack a wallop. And if you haven't already stuck your brain on Melted Sunglasses, then you really need to get with the program. Disjointed punk squawk that's really going places, and with their smudged imagery getting us all worked up into a sweat, you'd best keep your eyes on Melted Sunglasses from Miami to deliver some amazing stuff on record soon, so be on the look out for their Weird Hug release later this year. And rounding out the afternoon show are Miami's Jacuzzi Boys, who never fail to lay down the psychedelic grooves so thick you'll need more than a butter knife to cut through it. If you haven't picked up their split single with Woven Bones on Needless Records, you'd better step to it. Their debut LP is one of the year's most anticipated, so look to Florida's Dying for a full-length of desecrated salvation hopefully before the end of the year, as well.
Later on that night at Crooked Bayou, Miami's mysteriously alluring TEEPEE will rev up the engines of submission and spellbind the room with their hypnotically addictive slurred spacepunk greatness. With a recent emergence over only the past six months, they have already turned in intensely lurid records with Weird Hug, Florida's Dying, and have an upcoming HoZac Hookup Klub release on deck, as well. Not a high energy act, it's stuff like this that just sizzles with a slow burn, and delivers satisfaction that's hard to find these days. After TEEPEE unlocks your mind, Alabama's Hibachi Stranglers head up to the stage next, bringing a clangor of beautifully muddy psychedelic punk that's pulled off live so well, it was one of the best shows I saw all year in 2007. Their debut 7" was a flat-out classic and their lack of releases in the time since its release has left a gaping hole in the universe, so hopefully that'll all be rectified with their imminent debut LP on Florida's Dying, tentatively still in the works. And just as things get cranked up with Hibachi Stranglers, Madison, WI's Dead Luke follows up and tones down the sound back into pit of synthetic aural blackness, as any of his fine records can attest. Columbus noise-creeps Psychedelic Horseshit wrap up the rest of the hazy evening with audio scrapings conjured from nether regions of consciousness, and deliver a bombastic and asymmetrical sound that leans on nothing but restless creativity and vast quantities of intoxicants.
Sunday's afternoon show is gonna be a hard pill to swallow, but it'll be worth it as weird poppers Ghost Hospital take the stage first, clanging out a quirky set of spasmodic greatness, only to be followed by Pittsburgh's insanely inane Rot Shit, who aim to disgust and corrupt everything pure going on in your intestinal tract, hitting the spot every time. Once you've wiped the slime from your face, get ready for another crucial performance by Miami's Electric Bunnies, who never fail to deliver. With an inimitable sound that ranges from bubble-gummy ballads to noisy interventions, they're more than qualified to hold their own and always do it well. More than likely, they'll be backing Pink Reason in the headlining spot tonight, too. And even though the misty-eyed introspection of Pink Reason's material may not always be the best idea to cap off an all day party after a two day fest, this conglomeration of sunny weather, marathon partying and wild out-of-town friends coming together, it should be the perfect way to wind it all down.
Check out a video clip of Melted Sunglasses performing live at Wiggly World Records earlier this year, courtesy of jkickbright, right here:
