By Sam Cronin, news correspondent
If the venue had been a little bigger and the attached Starbucks had been a bar, AfterHours might have seen some raucous crowd-surfing.
When Jeff Rosenstock took the stage at AfterHours Saturday, the band did a quick soundcheck, briefly greeted the audience and got right into the show. They had a jam-packed couple of days prior, performing in Australia the day before and then coming to Boston by way of New York and New Jersey. The band’s love for their music was clear from their passionate performance and quirky give-and-take stage presence.
“I liked [the show],” said Beza Zeneb, a first-year biology and political science combined major. “I’ll definitely listen to them more.”
The band played their latest studio album “Worry.” in its entirety, working in jokes and audience participation along the way. At one point, Rosenstock brought his mic out into the crowd to let the audience sing along with him.
The current Jeff Rosenstock band lineup was brought together by Rosenstock’s desire to work with producer Jack Shirley and his experiences with and affinity for the musicians.
“I reached out to John (DeDomenici), who’s the best at the bass, Kevin (Higuchi) who’s a really fast learner and great drummer, and Mike (Huguenor), who plays in two of my favorite bands,” Rosenstock said. “And then that was the band. We recorded ‘We Cool?’ and ended up doing a short tour. ‘All right, sick. We’re a band.’”
Bellows opened for Rosenstock. Lead singer Oliver Kalb addressed the crowd before they performed songs from their newest album, “Fist and Palm,” which Kalb described as the most thematically aggressive and electronic-based music they have made.
Their set delighted and intrigued the crowd of students, most of whom had never experienced their music before.
“It was my first time seeing them, but it was a great show,” said Jerry Gitsis, a first-year computer science major.
Kalb said he started Bellows as a solo recording project, experimenting within the framework of the folk genre. He started with just a guitar and recorded over a USB microphone. By layering other instruments over the guitar, he tried to see how sonically complicated he could make a home-recorded album.
The resulting first Bellows album was “As If to Say I Hate Daylight.” Kalb put it up himself on the music sharing site, Bandcamp, without any mastering or mixing. Over time and after drafting several friends to play with him, Kalb has developed Bellows into a loud rock band and emphasized his desire to constantly evolve his music.
“We sort of have our own language for playing together that’s a bit different than the Bellows albums which are more delicate sounding,” Kalb said. “The live band is a more big rock, aggressive thing.”
Bellows has released three full-length records plus two EPs and two singles, and is currently on the Brooklyn label, Double Double Whammy, which he said has many “kindred-spirit artists.”
Jeff Rosenstock has released three albums and is touring “Worry.” on the label SideOneDummy. He’s in another band, Antarctigo Vespucci, which he said is nearly done recording their next record, which should be out sometime next summer. Rosenstock left fans curious and wanting more when he mentioned he’s currently working on a secret project to be announced soon.
