The first band on the program was the Grab Ass Cowboys. Their brand of music was that of abstract noise rock. By using only a bass guitar and an electric guitar combined with a plethora of electronic distortions, they were able to create a constantly evolving wall of noise that was both intriguing and utterly painful to my ears. Now, I am all for ridiculously loud music; as a matter of fact, when I have headphones on or when I am in a car, I will not have it any other way. This music, however, resembled what a demented buzzard would sound like if it were nailed to my shoulder and began screeching. It was a disturbing noise that made me long for earplugs.

The music’s abstract form grew tiresome quickly. From what I heard Friday night, I would really only recommend Grab Ass Cowboys for those who are able to swallow a violent noise album, such as Merzbow’s 1930, and a whole handful of aspirin at a time. Luckily, the next band did not disappoint.

The Face Stabbers were an engaging mix of garage and indie rock, with a fast and fun delivery of both lyrics and catchy riffs. Comprised of Oliver on guitar and vocals, Zane Van Dusen ’06 on bass, and Ryan Jenkins ’08 on drums, the Stabbers showed off their home field advantage by asking the audience to join them on stage and joking around between songs. They even had the audience sing along to the hilarious “Segourney Wheaver” which required the crowd to shout “Courtney Love!” and “Yoko Ono!” at seemingly random times in the song. With song titles like “Your Face Before It Got Stabbed: We Do Our Math On a Stabbacus,” the band showed off not only its musical prowess, but also its witty creativity with song titles and lyrics.

The last band of the night was The Bunny Brains, and they were definitely the weirdest. They came out wearing face paint, animal costumes, and even masks, and the female singer began playing a saw with a violin bow. Their music was like a heavier and noisier Mr. Bungle, with the female vocalist alternating between screaming and sensually crooning into the microphone. I liked the musical aspect of their set, but the two singers just did not seem to fit along with the songs. Toward the end, they were foraying off the stage with the clear objective of trying to make the audience, sitting very comfortably on couches, feel awkward and annoyed. In general, the contradicting chords, beats, and vocals were the kind of twisted sonic assault you would expect to hear blasting out of a mad scientist’s laboratory.

All RPI favoritism aside, The Face Stabbers were my favorite band of the night. Their style of rock was much more formulaic than the other bands, and much more easily digestible and enjoyable because of it. Their grungy riffs were catchy, especially on the sing-along “Segourney Wheaver;” this reminded me a lot of early Black Sabbath guitar which spirals off into a dark nihility, but not before dragging the listener with them. At the end of The Face Stabbers’ set, bassist Van Dusen stumbled into the audience and literally crawled back up onto the stage while drummer Jenkins knocked over his cymbals and microphone mid-song. It was hilarious—and so punk—and it added, to instead of detracted from the music, which was a problem I had with The Bunny Brains’ performance.

Friday’s show was advertised as “the craziest show you will ever see,” so fear not zoophobes, do not expect to see anymore bands in full animal costumes with face paint. This Friday, however, stop by the basement of Nugent for their Open Mic Night at 8 pm. It is free, it is a really cool atmosphere, and you can get to support fellow RPI musicians as they perform for fun. It is a great way to relax after a hard week of classes and homework and also a great way to meet people who have similar music tastes. For more information on upcoming events, go to http://gzbasement.net/.