PHOTOS: KRISTIN HORGEN | If there ever was a ’90s band I could get behind, it’s Potty Mouth. Except, it’s 2013, and none of them were wearing flannel. (Okay, well, her skirt was flannel.) Either way, their punky noise pop fit the bill for a fun Saturday night, the Riot Grrl comparisons that they eschew be damned.
The show at La Casa, a church in Mount Pleasant, had three openers, all of which were much more intense and in-your-face in classic DIY fashion. Trudging through the ranges of ear-splitting screams—one opener was pretty much just back-turned-to-the-audience hardcore—was worth it to get to the night’s main event. Notwithstanding the barrage of shrieks, the audience was moving, and anticipation was rising. Seeing the majority of the room cut loose and thrash around was refreshing, especially during the first opener, messy girl punk, Lisa Drank. By the time Potty Mouth came on, I was dripping sweat on my phone as I tried to jot a couple of notes down.
Potty Mouth is raw fun. At times, they are just as intimidating as the openers, like when singer Abby Weems releases her loudest and most powerful lyric of the night, “Watch me crawl across the floor,” in the ruckus single “The Spins.” What’s great is at the beginning of this song, she displays her candor when she misses a note on her guitar and, instead of getting flustered, flashes googly eyes, smirks, and continues without missing a step. She delivers her lyrics with a wide-eyed snarl and seesaws into the most endearing smile throughout their thirty-minute set.
At one point, drummer Victoria Mandanas counts out to start the next song, and Weems interrupts with, “Hey wait!” She laughs and mentions some items at the merch table, including pillowcases. Potty Mouth pillowcases!
The entire band is effortlessly tight considering that half of them are relatively new to their instruments. Mandanas is probably the best musician of the bunch, bashing out rapid-fire drum fills and blistering technical skills. On Sun Damage cut “Hazerdville,” Ally Einbinder is all over her bass in the best way, sliding her fingers all over the place. Potty Mouth’s sound is thick when it all comes together, but very poignant in their pop sensibilities. There’s a lot of chord smashing that results in Weems wagging her tongue in delight.
Other girls, the audience, everyone else might be trying to cause a riot, but these girls are just having a fucking blast!
