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Archive for the ‘Smug LLC’ Category

Sincere Engineer (House of Independents, Asbury Park, NJ, September 4, 2026)

Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, House of Independents, Sincere Engineer, Smug LLC, Star Trek, Stay Inside, The Simpsons, Wil Wheaton on September 6, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 4, 2026] Sincere Engineer

I’m not sure how I first heard of Sincere Engineer, but as soon as I heard them, I loved them.  I love their bouncy pop punk sound, I love the snarky lyrics and I love  Deanna Belos’ voice!  Raspy and angry which still being completely clear and easy to understand.  It’s perfect.  Especially with catchy, kiss off lyrics like

And I should’ve said ………something
But I really said …………nothing
And I should’ve said ……………..something
Before I twist my tongue
And clench my teeth
And let you get away
With saying that to me

They opened with that song and I was super psyched from the get go.

Before that song their entrance music was the theme from Star Trek the Next Generation, which was hilarious and wonderful.

After the new song, they jumped back to Cheap Grills for two songs: Anemia and California King–a simple, catchy bouncy song that is pretty irresistible.

Back to new songs with Settle Up With Your Downfall, a slower more serious song, but the follow up The Perfect Crime was super catchy, only beaten in catchiness by Fireplace, one of the catchiest, snarkiest songs in recent memory.  And everyone sang along, including the eleven year old who was celebrating her birthday at the show.  This girl was cute, standing up front wearing a birthday hat.  She’d probably talked to Deanna before, but Deanna made a big deal out of her and dedicated the next song Corn Dog Sonnet to her.

It was fast and fun, just like Cooler.  And even though my understanding is that this is Deanna’s band, the guys behind her are fantastic Adam Beck on drums, Kyle Geib on guitar, and Nick Arvanitis on bass keep the show smooth and clearly enjoying playing. (more…)

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Stay Inside (House of Independents, Asbury Park, NJ, September 4, 2026) [SINCERE ENGINEER]

Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, House of Independents, Sincere Engineer, Smug LLC, Stay Inside on September 5, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 4, 2026] Stay Inside

It took Stay Inside a little while longer than I expected to come on stage (since Smug LLC was such a short set.  But they were fantastic from the get go.  They are a four piece from Brooklyn and have been around for about ten years.  Midshow, someone noted that this was their 250th show!

Bon Z exploded with heavy guitars (I liked the way the second guitars rang out after the verse verse making the song even bigger.  There was great bass (from Bryn Nieboer) throughout the show (more prominent than on the record)

I really enjoyed the way their guitarist (Chris Johns) sang the quick but quiet Runnin’ runnin’ runnin’ runnin part and I really liked the cool quiet middle section with more tasty bass fills.

Chris Lawless was a really fun front man, jumping around, occasionally kicking a cymbal and joking with the audience and the band.

So far, the set had been pretty intense.  Monsieur Hawkwind and My Fault slowed things down a bit and it was good to know they can pull of mid-tempo as well as faster songs.

Midway through the set, Bryn told us that this was their drummer’s fourth show.  He was great.  But at some point he hit a funny sample that made everyone groan and Bryn said that this was now his last show.

There was a girl in the audience wearing a birthday hat (she was 11) and Bryn asked if it was her birthday.  Bryn asked her how old she was and she told her then Bryn said next month she was turning 40 which I genuinely can’t tell if that was a joke, but a whole bunch of people booed, which she was aghast a–why are you booing 40?)

The final song was from an earlier EP and that song rocked hard again.   I was really surprised that they only played 7 songs.  It was a tight 30 minute set and they left a great impression.  I wanted to chat with them after the show but the line for Sincere Engineer was pretty long and when I was done, the line for them was just as long and I wanted to get home.  But I’m definitely a fan and looking forward to seeing them again.

Wikipedia has just told me that Bartees Strange, yes, that Bartees Strange was in the band from 2016-2018.  That’s insane.

 

Bon Zs ≅
Runnin’ ‰
A Backyard ≅
Monsieur Hawkwind ‰
My Fault ≅
Wish It Away ‰
Ivy ∇

‰ Lunger (2026)
≅ Ferried Away (2024)
∇ Viewing (2020)

 

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Smug LLC (House of Independents, Asbury Park, NJ, September 4, 2026) [SINCERE ENGINEER]

Posted in Asbury Park, NJ, House of Independents, Sincere Engineer, Smug LLC, Stay Inside on September 4, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 4, 2026] Smug LLC

I’m not sure what drew my attention to Sincere Engineer, but as soon as I heard them, I was hooked.  I was also really excited that they were playing soon after I’d heard of them.

I hadn’t heard of their first opener, Smug, LLC, who are (is) from Toronto.  I looked up the band and learned that it is actually a guy–Drew Thomas.  I hadn’t heard of him either, but evidently he had been a round for a second or two.  He fronted bands like Single Mothers and The Drew Thomson Foundation and has earned two Juno Award nominations.

I had no idea he was anything other than just a dude who made fun, funny music.   His songs are very dancey with lots of bass and other sound effects.

When his set started, he clicked on a laptop which started the music and a movie projector.  The video screen showed clips of movies and TV shows and clips of Drew walking around and each song had the lyrics on the screen, which was pretty smart. (more…)

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