I Love Kids

Living or visiting Sacramento? You should definitely check out the music scene. It's the most diverse city you'll ever find. There are many great indie bands. I've seen metal, screamo, pop bands in Sacramento and have yet to have run into any good punk bands until tonight. I have to admit that punk is not the type of music that I would listen to at home, in the car, whatever, but it is definitely fun and good live.

I visited McClatchy High School for a benefit concert not knowing what to expect, what type of music would be played, or even what bands were playing. The bands that stood out for me were The Secretions and The Knockoffs. Some members in The Secretions were featured in The Knockoffs. I've definitely heard of these bands before just like I hear about many other bands, but I've never gotten a chance to listen to their stuff. Today I have and it was definitely a surprise because I'm not normally into punk music. They are fun bands to see live. They have amazing energy and stage presence. The crowd was enjoying their sets all the way through. One of the members thought that I wasn't enjoying the show because I had this serious look on my face, but really I was just listening intensely to the music.

Although all the bands that were featured were punk bands, there was one that definitely stood out from the rest and it's not just because of the use of the smog machine and the neon lights, but because of their music. I didn't catch their name, but I believe they're named Hello Jack. They are just high school kids folks and I'm not saying that as some sort of harsh comment. I'm just proving how talented they are at their age to be able to put out the quality of music that bands who have been together longer have put together. I mean the music just has this professional quality about it and they're not just some amateurs. One of the members is featured in a hardcore local band called Fixed, which is very popular at McClatchy and John F. Kennedy High Schools as all the members are from those schools. Hello Jack is instrumental and keyboard driven. It's just the keyboards, guitar, and drums. It's reminiscent of Explosions in the Sky and B. Fleischmann. The music and tone was just mellow and was splendid to hear among all the upbeat, punk music played the rest of the show. Hopefully, Hello Jack will keep making more music as they are extremely talented and gifted especially for their age. Be sure to always try and catch small shows like these that feature indie bands because you never know what you might find!

Links:
Fixed on Myspace
The Knockoffs
The Secretions