Monotonix, Dirty Sister & The Americas

Hello. How are you? Very well, thanks for asking. With Jack Frost nipping at my balls and Jack Daniels nipping at my stomach lining, I made my way to Monstros Pizza last Saturday night for what was promised to be a splendid evening. I had high expectations for this show because the flyer that Aye Jay Morano made for it was the best flyer ever, and everyone knows that the best shows get the best flyers.

    The Americas brought in their gear and went to work. As their set progressed, the warmer they got, and in no time frontman Travis Wuerthner was down to his T-shirt, flailing his sweaty limbs to his emotive vocals and looped and real time guitar progressions. Drummer Casey Deitz is a ridiculously seamless stick-banging madman, and between Travis and himself, it’s obvious that the two of them is as big as the band needs to be.



    Next up was Dirty sister, a four-piece blues-rock style band that is chock-full of cock energy. Reminiscent of The Gossip, Dirty Sister wasn’t so much dirty as they were clean and precise with yummy, energetic songs.

    The word Monotonix sounds like a disease and a cure, and when I asked singer Ami Shalev what it meant he said, “Nothing, I made it up.” This was the their third time coming to Chico from their home in Tel Aviv, Israel, and you could tell from the crowd’s excitement that they were very welcome. Their sound was heavy and raw and straight from the garage. Hearing Yonatan Gat’s bending notes and power chords mixed with Ran Shimoni’s drum kit and wrapped in Ami’s vintage voice, you realize their influences span every genre and decade. The music is top-notch, but it’s Ami’s antics that stand out the most, like when he went to the bathroom and returned with the garbage can and emptied its contents on top of Ran’s head, used tampons and all. The show teetered between hilarious and frightening, but every second was entertaining, from the first guitar riff to Ran’s last tap on his symbol as the audience suspended him on his drum kit.

    All in all, Saturday was an awesome night of rock ‘n’ roll. If you missed it, I suggest building a time machine and traveling back to the year 24 to give Jesus a high-five, then getting your ass to a Monotonix show.

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