Down at the Loop Lounge, the band on stage when I walked in ended their set by saying, “Stick around for The Ribeye Boys!” Another Friday night in Jersey. Outside it was pissing rain miserably, and inside a Newcastle cost an inexplicable five bucks. I paid it, several times over (and a special thanks to The Patient Mrs. for driving home), but never with a smile on my face.

The Loop Lounge is in Passaic, a little over the border from Clifton. And quite a border it is. Where Clifton is a middle-class haven, Passaic is more akin to Paterson in terms of places white kids go to buy drugs. Fortunately they’re all pretty close, right there in Clifton, so it’s not a long trip. I haven’t been there in years, and the last time I was, it was to go to a show at the Loop, where I unceremoniously got tanked by myself and felt miserable about it.

I was neither alone nor miserable this past Friday night (tanked, maybe), and the timing of when I got to the bar gave just enough pre-gaming to allow for joviality when The Ribeyes took stage at 11PM or somewhere thereabouts. They had an hour-long set of ’60s-inspired self-deprecating garage rock which, if it came from a bunch of 20 year olds with fancy haircuts, I’d find utterly intolerable. As it was, however, The Ribeye Bros. channeled oldies boogie with just a slice of modern, capital-h heavy and were a damn good time.

They have a new self-released album out, called New Ways to Fail, which I’d picked up but not heard yet, and joked on stage that it’s over two years old. Plaid-clad frontman Tim Cronin seemed in good spirits, though his vocals were too loud in the mix right from the start. So much so that I had to move from my position at the side of the stage to get away (unfortunately I was out of earplugs and the CVS was closed, or it wouldn’t have been a problem), but even right in front, it was an issue. A surefire way to be a dick, however, is to be the guy at the show who yells out, “Less vocals!” at the band. Needless to say, I survived.

In the years since I last saw The Ribeye Brothers, they’ve exchanged a complete rhythm section and added a second guitarist, but they celebrated their back catalog anyway, including their debut, If I Had a Horse…, on which it was just guitarist Jon Kleiman and Cronin throughout. “Bootful of Piss” and closer “Mr. Ray Charles” were well-received, as were newer songs “Hypnotist,” “Cup of Coffee and a Piece of Pie,” the especially memorable “Shit Car” and “New Cancer.” Unpretentious rock jaunt is never a bad way to spend a Friday night.

Their songs are short and they played them quickly, so the set went fast, and when it was over, I cleared out into the rain, asking first and then swiping the set list as I went. They don’t play up north that often — they’ll be at the Brighton Bar in Long Branch on Halloween — but I was glad to be reminded of how much fun their music is. I’d already been looking forward to hearing New Ways to Fail, and the show was one more reason to pop it on all the sooner.

Tags: New Jersey, The Ribeye Brothers

This entry was posted on Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 11:54 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.