Hector’s Pets and White Mystery at Cake Shop 3/28/13

William Ruben Helms

14 years ago

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So on my birthday, i caught Hector’s Pets and White Mystery at Cake Shop before catching up with my buddy Abdul. I didn’t take formal notes because my intention was to be there to celebrate my birthday and have a good time. But i did have some impressions of the show i wanted to discuss before showing some photos.

I managed to catch the last third or so of Hector’s Pets and their sound reminded me of the punk bands I used to catch at countless dive bars and clubs across the city – and it made me long for the days of the Continental, Coney Island High, Brownies, CBGB’s, the Acme Underground and others. In an intimate environment where you can feel body heat and smell sweat, there was an energy shared between the crowd and the band which was pretty awesome. Hell, seeing kids headbang enthusiastically is always pretty fun. But I wish i would have caught more of their set, instead of watching the first two periods of an awful New York Rangers game at the Stillwater Bar and Grill on East 4th, and Miami fuck up my NCAA brackets – ugh.
White Mystery was in town for the second of two New York area shows to support what may well be their most fully-realized, forthcoming album, Telepathic which will be released on April 20th. Yes, 4/20, y’all. 4/20. (It’ll also mark the band’s 5th anniversary, so it’s quite fitting.) The new material has more of a psychedelic bent, but it manages the same childlike, mischievous glee. Much like with Hector’s Pets, the Whites really connect with an audience in a small room – while being simultaneously larger than life. Alex White can fucking shred, playing with explosive and towering peals of sounds, and Francis White, her younger brother, drums in a rollicking torrent. Both manage to look like Animal from the Muppets from playing – that is flowing waves of red hair all over the place, and it’s honestly fun to shoot.

Hector’s Pets