Another fun as hell live band that I’m late to the party on. This time it was Cambridge, MA’s Drug Rug, and the scene was a little off the beaten path at about 2pm last Friday. My buddies in Chicago swamp rock heroes Catfish Haven decided to throw their own day party (which is totally cool, considering that they brought in all of their favorite tourmates and Chicago friends to provide the entertainment, hooked up some free beer, and somehow scored a quesadilla maker and some fixins to set up a make-your-own-quesadilla bar. It ruled), and that’s where I caught both Wax Fang and Drug Rug. Well worth the 15 minute walk from the main drag along 6th Street, as both bands made my SXSW Finds list.

Drug Rug is like a aural sunburst - all shiny happy singalongs and brightly-colored, 60’s-owing folky pop jams steeped in playful white kid soul. These guys and gals were having more fun on the tiny stage at Molotov, playing for a hearty group of 20 or so enthusiastic fans so early in the day, than most bands had at their official night showcases, and the “this is gonna be a great day!” vibe was infectious and insatiable. When I was a kid, my mom had this totally hideous, totally cool sheet set that was a vaguely psychedelic, vaguely paisley pattern in vibrant orange, pink, purple, and red. It may have been the girl guitarist’s primary color-based dress, but I couldn’t help but think about that sheet set as I watched Drug Rug: loud (both audio and visual), psychedelic, ironic, and totally wacky all at once.

MP3: Drug Rug - Day I Die

MP3: Drug Rug - Tiny People

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