Above is the description of Old Time Relijun that I gave Roy, the computer technician at my school. His response: “I have to hear that.”

I agree. As a matter of fact, it’s my personal opinion that everyone should listen to Old Time Relijun. For the past few months they have been favorite band, though I’ve been listening to “Lost Light” since “2012″ came out in 2005. It wasn’t until “Uterus and Fire” that I knew the power of the Relijun.* That album sounds exactly like a Beefheart album if Keith Moon played drums and Bobcat Goldwaith sang. And yes, it’s that good.

I’m especially surprised at the people who aren’t Relijun fans, like my professional-record collector brother-in-law Tim. OTR is a bridge between garage music and free jazz; it’s got something for everybody. But I have a hunch that because the band is on K and many of their songs are powered by disco beats, they don’t get the respect they deserve. For shame!

Respect wasn’t flowing through the Knockout on Wednesday either. Sure, scenesters packed the place for Tussle, but the Relijun seemed like an after thought — “Oh yeah, this band is supposed to be good.” Well, they were beyond good. The singer/guitarist Arrington gave his usual wild-eyed and rabid performance and bassist Aaron lost his shit the entire set; I have pictures where his eyes are rolled back into his head. (It was hard to get pictures of him because he headbanged the entire time, which is a much cooler way to play an upright bass than how douche bag psychobilly bassists play, all arms stretched and slapping it like it was their wife.)

Sure, they had their rough spots, usually the newer, slower songs, but overall their set was great. Their new drummer Germaine is right up their with Phil Evrum (the Keith Moon impersonator) and they have a saxophonist named Ben (who is also the bassist Aaron’s brother) who is probably the only saxophonist with a rock band I have appreciated. (X-Ray Spex be damned!)

I’m posting four songs from the set, grossly ignoring some of the bigger highlights, like the sped-up version of Cold Water that seemed to get the entire bar bopping their heads, but you still get an accurate picture of the overall radness of the show.

Make sure to click on the picture above to see the photos I took.
*Yes I know that was cheesy.

Also make sure to look at the Pulses post below; I added a new song.