Live in San Francisco

Lone Star garage punks OBN IIIs take no prisoners on this high-impact document of a 2013 gig the band played at the Chapel in San Francisco, California. Live in San Francisco isn't a fancy title, and this ain't a fancy album, but that's why it works so well — this is unfiltered, unrefined, and unrelenting rawk, captured in its native environment, with the band starting the set in fourth gear and getting louder and wilder over the course of 27 sweat-soaked minutes. Despite his over the top attack, lead singer Orville Bateman Neely III (that's where the name comes from) is a solid vocalist with a powerful voice, audible charisma, and a gift for bantering with the audience, capable of sounding friendly or brutally dismissive given the circumstances. Meanwhile, guitarists Tommy Triplett and Andrew Cashen crank like the bastard children of James Williamson and Tony Iommi, with shards of six-string fury bursting out without a moment's pause until this thing screeches to a halt. Add in the tireless drumming of Marley Jones, the brutal throb of bassist Graham Low, and a mix that's not afraid of this band's impressive low end, and Live in San Francisco sounds like the faster-and-louder cross mixture of Kiss' Alive! and the Ramones' It's Alive many have tried to wish into existence. This album is more about raw power than tunes, but a few of the songs really do stand out, especially "Uncle Powderbag," "Running on Fumes," and "If the S**t Fits," and the group wails with the fervor of true believers, while Neely's running commentary on the audience's fashion sense, hygiene, drug use, and relative charm is often a hoot. If the OBN IIIs were looking for a way to convince more folks to come and see them live, Live in San Francisco is as good an advertisement as they could hope for — this is a hot-wired rock & roll onslaught that's sure to leave a mark, and a riotous testament to this act's explosive skills on-stage.