This is possibly the most important way someone can tell they’ve just attended a stupendous show: immediately after showering off the sweat and pit grime, you’re on the computer checking when the band is coming back or if the show the next day is within driving distance. That was the other night at The First Unitarian Church in Philly. After the Gaslight Anthem ripped the venue apart, the Loved Ones put it back together then ripped it apart again. That, combined with pleasantly surprising openers Amateur Party and The Ergs, made this my favorite show of the year so far.

Read all about it after the jump.

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New Brunswick’s The Measure [sa] have posted their song “No Regerts” (spelling intentional!) for streaming here from the upcoming split with Blotto. The split also features the tracks “Wreckage” and “Oslo.” Make sure to check out The Measure February 2nd at the Don Giovanni showcase with The Ergs and Hunchback at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, NJ.

We can’t stop listening to Paint It Black’s New Lexicon at LNWF home base and this video does a great job of capturing PIB’s live performance .  Shot by Jeremy Silveira, you can see PIB  performing “Pink Slip” and “Atticus Finch.”  The video also catches the band asking the fans for infinity plus 1 stage dives as previously reported.

Check out clips from No Trigger and The Ergs at The Fest 6 after the Jump
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With Upstairs/Downstairs(Dirtnap), The Ergs second full-length, we get a wiser and clearly more road-tested band. But while the band lets their impressive skills and songwriting chops roam a little more freely this time around, the results are somewhat mixed. The album suffers from the same inconsistencies that held back the band’s first album, Dorkrockcorkrod (Whoa Oh/Don Giovanni), from being a pop-punk masterpiece.

That being said though, the band’s second album contains some of the strongest songs they have ever written. Album highlights include “2nd Fountain,” “Trouble in River City” and “Bike Shoppe.” These are the type of pogo-inducing songs that reaffirm my love of the genre. It’s fast, it’s catchy, it’s fun, fuck yeah!

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 I’d been anticipating this show for a while, so after work I got some Chinese food for dinner and took my time strolling downtown to Lit Lounge to check it out. Literally the heart and soul of pop-punk, this lineup was probably one of the heights of the NY punk social season. Despite advertising, the show didn’t start until about 9, which was fine and gave Matt P. and I plenty of time to start pouring liquid courage down our necks. Keep this in mind as it’s a prevalent theme throughout the night.

Downstairs, Short Attention begin to play. Composed of (from what I could tell) Mike Erg and one of the members of the Steinways, among others, Short Attention kicked the night off with a bang. I never really thought that an ode to cabbage could kick so much ass. Their short songs are just bursts of awesome and incredibly funny. The crowd at the front of the stage had already started hardcore singing along. If you get a chance, check them out.

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