Trapped!

Tennessee's Rat Traps put on a shouty show in a Reatards vein at Irene's on Tuesday. Like The Oblivians they have two guitarists (both using general store guitars with lipstick pickups) and a drummer. Everyone sings, taking turns with the lead vocals. Their set was quite short; between the Fortunate Sons and The Rat Traps I'd say and hour an 15 minutes of time was put to valuable use. I used a ton of bounced flash for these photos. Hurray for white ceilings!

April N. keeps her trap un-shut! Her t-shirt is a reference to the cover of The Oblivians' Popular Favorites, I presume.



Ditto Joe T.! Do these folks wear their influences on their sleeves, or what?





Drummer Jeff is more the silent type ... no, I'm lying, he was yelling a lot too!



And now, rodent-exterminating rock action!









April ditched her guitar for the final number, a particularly shouty one.



After their set was over there was mild twittering from the small audience, who seemed a bit stunned. Then Chris Anderson said "Ladies and gentlemen, The Rat Traps!" and there was some louder applause, but the general impression of hit-and-run rock remained.

• Show reminder: Hi Lo Trons and The Acorn play Babylon (it's to celebrate the re-release of the Hi Lo Trons' first album on the Music for Cats label); Toronto's mighty Sinkin' Ships play Mavericks with The Mighty Eagle Band, The October Sky, and Hot Damn Vietnam; Sick Fits, BushPilots and Good2Go play Barrymore's.