A moderate turn out of familiar Kalamazoo faces (to this old timer anyway) were treated to an engagingly diverse trio of bands this previous Saturday at The Strutt.

Setting the night in motion was Frank Fuzz, armed with his guitar, belting out his succinct slabs of pop over a projected backing video of him performing the harmonies and other instrumentation in settings such as the woods and by streams and the like. He included a cover of the Thinking Fellers Union Local 282’s “Noble Experiment”, a highly unexpected treat!

Delightism followed with a full-blown rock sound, a departure from the more mellow and/or acoustic-driven sound that frontman Dana Owens has been previously toying with under the moniker. The two guitar, bass and drum line-up howled and thrashed through a 30-minute set of stylistically-varied songs with a lot of energy and obviously enjoying themselves immensely.

Secret Twins

A drum and guitar duo took to the stage at this point, and it quickly became clear that something unusual was about to happen when a tiny girl wearing a Flying V began testing her mic by layering lush vocal harmonies with a loop pedal. Sure enough, Ann Arbor’s Secret Twins began their set with a hauntingly beautiful but driving rock number featuring a waterfall of looped voices. There was a clear folk influence in the songwriting, yet somehow, the further the set advanced, the more a raw punk sound took control. The audience was won over, giving a more-than-warm reception to the out-of-towners, and another Saturday night at The Strutt came to a close.