This coming Saturday, February 24th, Union Transfer will be hosting two amazing acts that we haven’t seen in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection for quite some time. Headlining the evening is garage rock legends The Kills, who were last in town when they played the Eraserhood venue in 2018. However, we’re just as excited about the opening set of perfectly playful punk rock from LA DIY quartet The Paranoyds (comprised of keyboardist/vocalist Laila Hashemi, guitarist/vocalist Lexi Funston, bassist/vocalist Staz Lindes, and drummer David Ruiz), who were last here when they played Boot & Saddle (R.I.P.) in 2019 with Bleached (They were supposed to headline PhilaMOCA in 2022, with support from our good buddies in Tchotchke, but the show got cancelled.)
Since the last time we saw The Paranoyds, they got signed to Jack White’s Third Man Records, which – during a recent phone chat with the band from the road – they tell me they’re huge fans of: “It’s awesome! We’re lucky that they want us in their family.” They go on to say that they’re especially appreciative of the fact that everyone at the label is a musician themselves (They also tell me that they’re really digging the new records from Sheer Mag, Hotline TNT, and Snõõper.)
September of 2022 saw the release of The Paranoyds’ first album for Third Man, sophomore LP Talk Talk Talk, produced by Froth’s Joo-Joo Ashworth (Automatic, SASAMI, Dummy). KEXP called the album, “a solid set of expansive garage-rock with crunchy guitars, bright keyboards, punchy rhythms, buoyant harmonies and catchy song hooks,” while Xtra characterized its sound as, “Up-tempo pop, rock and a little dash of riot grrrl energy.”
The Paranoyds have done their fair share of touring since the release of Talk Talk Talk, including headlining dates, major festivals (Treefort, Levitation, Desert Daze…), and a run supporting Jack White at venues that are just about as mega as venues can get. However, they tell me that these dates with The Kills, which kicked off at the beginning of the month, have established a special place in their heart: “This has just been an overall positive experience… This has been really fun, and the first tour where the venues rush outside to help you load in gear [laughs].”
In addition to the venues, the band tells me that on this tour they’ve felt a lot of love from both the band (“They leave the green room door open!”) and their fans (“They have a really awesome fanbase and they show up early and give good energy!”) Although The Paranoyds admit that they didn’t previously know the headliners, or even a ton of their music, they tell me that they’ve been thoroughly impressed seeing them every night: “They’re full-on rock stars and they’re really good performers. Sometimes people will come to the merch booth after the show and say to us, ‘You guys were better than the headliner!’ We don’t get that on this tour [laughs].”
Last October, Third Man released the 4-song I Like It Here EP, The Paranoyds’ follow-up and companion piece to Talk Talk Talk, recorded by Ashworth a year after the full-length. And while The band’s current dates with The Kills are set to wrap on Monday at Webster Hall, they do have a headlining date at Soda Bar in San Diego in April and they tell me that there’s a good chance that there will be some performances this summer, but they’re also excited to get into some new music: “I think we want to start jamming again, making plans and keeping them, plotting and playing some festivals this summer. Touring can be hard because it’s so expensive.”
*Get your tickets here.
