Aye Nako at Monarch Tonight (like right now)

There’s another free show going down at your neighborhood watering hole, Monarch, this Saturday the 13th. The ever-eclectic Denim Vest promotional crew is bringing down Aye Nako (pronounced eye nuh-co), a band of self-proclaimed homopop artists, all the way from New York City. According to the bio on the quartet’s Facebook page, the group writes “sad punk songs about being queer, trans, and black.” To the best of my limited musical knowledge, I wouldn’t necessarily call their music punk as much as I would a throwback to the alt-rock explosion of the 90s. Think Pavement or Built to Spill, but with a more emotional vibe. They’ve got a couple albums and an EP under their belt, the last two releases having been put out on New Jersey record label, Don Giovanni. The imprint is known for signing a plethora of LGBT acts to their roster. Here’s the video for “Nightcrawler”:

The opener will be locals, the Slinksters. I’ve admittedly never been all that familiar with punk rock. Nevertheless, these guys play pretty much exactly what you’d imagine a gang of dudes rocking spiked leather jackets and dyed mohawks to. Check out their tracks on ReverbNation. The mosh pit is sure to be lively, so save your good shoes for another night.