It was a rockin’ Friday night at The Satellite for The Muffs‘ headlining performance along with supporting acts Inger Lorre and the Summer Twins.

The Muffs came out and had some small technical difficulty. We saw frontwoman Kim Shattuck grow a bit nervous that her amp wasn’t working, but like a pro, she got that settled real quick. As she started playing guitar, Roy McDonald began pounding away on the drums and Ronnie Barnett blasted his bass and jumped around the stage getting the crowd excited.

Shattuck played with the Pixies a couple years ago (replacing Kim Deal on bass), which I was lucky enough to catch at the El Rey. It was rad, but it was awesome to see her now back with The Muffs, screaming into her mic. The crowd really enjoyed it, especially the guy with the pink mohawk. The dude was jumping around the whole time with no signs of stopping. Way to show your appreciation man! The crowd was really into the show, but unfortunately (like at most L.A. shows) it seemed that more people were focused on recording the performance with their smartphones rather than following the guy with the pink mohawk who was truly living in the rock ‘n’ roll moment.

Starting off the night off was Inger Lorre, which could have been a headliner. They came out strong and did not let up. The band started their set with “Rumble” a cover by Link Wray, which was pretty bad ass. Lorre’s guitarist played like Jimi Hendrix, the guy transcended and played like a rock god. Lorre also sounded great, she came out with a feathered tiara and belted out lyrics with a fierce style. Their performance was vicious in all the best ways.

After Inger Lorre ravaged The Satellite, the Summer Twins from Riverside came out and toned things down a bit. Exuding a totally different vibe from the rock ‘n’ roll thrashing Inger Lorre gave us, Summer Twins relaxed us with their sweet indie pop. They were kind of sandwiched in between two harder bands, which seemed a bit odd at first, but it worked well as a refreshing break. Summer Twins reminded me a bit of Best Coast. Chelsea Brown sounded delightful on vocals and Justine, her sister on drums, played seamlessly. People around me had mentioned that Justine reminded them a lot like Karen Carpenter, in terms of style, skills and sound. The Summer Twins put on a fun set and were the perfect appetizer to main dish: The Muffs.

Words and Photography: Wes Marsala
Originally written for GrimyGoods.com, January 18, 2015