THE KNITTS photo: Hadas
The Knitts, an up-and-coming band from the San Fernando Valley, showed off their live chops at The Hi Hat in Highland Park on Feb. 15, where they played in celebration of their recent EP release, Simple Folk. The Hi Hat, housed in a building that still bares the neon name of Highland Park Billiards, is a secret; a great venue with a big stage, a nice beer selection, and tasty food. That’s pretty difficult to find unless you already know what you’re looking for. This made it the perfect venue for The Knitts, also difficult to find, but worth the effort.
Playing a jukebox shuffle of everything from garage rock, to psych, to soul, and back again, The Knitts are a mixed bag but in the best possible way. You never know what you’re going to hear next in the set, or even where a given song is going to take you. The insanely catchy “Erotic Aquatic,” off the new EP, starts out sunny and playful, but explodes into something completely different when lead singer Justin Volkens joins brother Brandon on the drums for a headbanging jam that would get any metalhead moving. In fact, most of the songs finish with this sentiment, even the ones that begin timidly enough with Volkens on a ukulele.
Other songs from the EP like the slinky “Knives,” and the Bloc Party-esque “Get Up Get Out,” were played with razor-like precision and plenty of volume. While non-EP songs seemed to steal the show. The catchy whistling and wacky carnival feel of “Carousel” really shook up the set, while “Lovers” was a nice mid-tempo change of pace. The fantastic rubber band riff-ed “Vamanos Mexico” seemed to be the biggest crowd pleaser, but the actual stand out was a new song, an old school soul throwback that featured Volkens’ strongest vocals of the night, as well as the best guitar riff.
There were some tiny timing issues, maybe a flubbed note here and there, but the foundation is solid. They have great energy and know their way around a stage, and if the non-EP songs are any indication, The Knitts’ material is just going to get better and better. With a little polishing, this diamond in the rough could really shine. A small, but enthusiastic crowd, who seemed to already be aware of this, showed up to support the band. With a little luck, and a lot of hard work, The Knitts could find that the crowds start getting a lot bigger.
The show was opened by Bedbugs and House of Affection.