If Lou Reed is the grandfather of punk, then Paul Marotta is its cool uncle. Marotta’s early-to-mid 70’s bands [like Mirrors and electric eels] were the missing links between The Stooges brutal rock ‘n’ roll and punk’s sloppy-but-heartfelt forward drive. No one might have listened to them then [at least, I think. It’s not like I was there, but I don’t ever see them in the $50 dollar punk rock coffee table books from Borders my mom gives me for Christmas] but their sound can be found everywhere these days [just check out half of In The Red’s roster]

The Styrenes were founded on the same concept as the eels and Mirrors [Iggy Pop + Sun Ra], but took it to a whole other level: they could actually like, play real chords and in the same tempo and stuff. They were proto and post-punk at the same time; anticipating both the jazzy punk of the Minutemen and the dissonance of no wave. They’re playing tomorrow night at Betty’s Bar and Grill with Cyon . You’d be dumb if you don’t come. Here’s a song that’s not only Nashville related, but it’s also one of the saddest songs ever. Someone played this song a couple days after Alex Chilton’s death and it put us in literal tears. Big tears. Let’s cry…

:: THE STYRENES
::::CYON
@ Betty’s B&G
$7-10 – 21+ – 9PM