Atlanta’s ’70s garage rockers the Biters and Stones-esque label mates the Booze have a couple of things in common, besides their home on Underrated Records; the first and foremost being that both bands do what they do — rock, hard, and unironically — in ways that a whole lot of people don’t these days. Sure, the Booze’s fourth album, the phenomenal At Maximum Volume, sounds like the Stones. But the trick is that they do it very well; they play live like they’re loving the hell out of what they’re doing; and they’re completely unapologetic about what they do.

They’re two bands that get up on stage and turn the amps up as loud as they’re go and just rock. I dig that.

Sunday nights in the Thrill are tough to begin with, and Sunday nights on a holiday weekend are even harder, so the crowd wasn’t a great as it could have been, but there was a small and enthusiastic bunch of people there, still trickling in during the Biters’ headlining set. The show was fantastic, though, and everybody who wasn’t there doesn’t know what they’re missing. At Maximum Volume is the 2011 release that’s gotten the most spins in my iTunes, after the Cowboy’s album, and seeing the Booze live just solidified for me that it’s an easy, no-questions-asked top 5 of the year contender. The Biters are touring behind an EP, All Chewed Up, that I really dug on the few listens I’ve given it, but their live show convinced me to go back and give it another listen; I suspect it’s just as good as the Booze’s full length.

And there’s nothing in the world like taking photos of two bands who don’t look like your normal everyday hipsters. I had a blast shooting last night.

Locals Richard Bacchus & the Luckiest Girls opened, thereby catapulting themselves towards the title of “Local Band I Have Seen The Most This Year, Totally By Accident”. Which should not be read as me not loving their particular brand of crashing, shiny garage rock, because I do, and Richard is a lovely human being to boot. Just that I haven’t ever set out to see them so many times, not particularly; it’s mostly serendipitous. And frankly, if all local opens were as enjoyable and serendipitous as Richard and his guys, I wouldn’t spend so much time on Twitter bitching about shitty openers.