Photo by Rima Warren

“It takes more than meeting [we’ll go with meeting here, not the actual word] someone you don’t know to keep warm.” – Frightened Rabbit, “Human Warmth,” The Midnight Organ Fight.

These Scottish giants of the indie rock world (Frightened Rabbit, I mean) have little to nothing to do with local bands from Pittsburgh. However, they make a valid point. Sometimes it takes a good rock show.

When we wandered into the Good Night, States show in the midst of Pittsburgh’s First Night festivities, I wasn’t expecting much. We were merely seeking shelter from the chill, something mildly amusing to occupy us and keep our extremities from falling off until midnight drew significantly closer.

Given their name, I expected at best a serviceable but unspectacular brand of Blink 182-cribbing pop punk, tinged perhaps with some dark-eyed emo sentiment. I was pleasantly surprised to find Good Night, States played nothing of the sort. Rather, they sounded much like Dave Matthews fronting a space rock band. Lead vocalist Steve Gretz shares a mumbling vocal presence with Dave Matthews, and a tendency towards vaguely new age-y lyrical fixations. On the instrumental side, he and his band bring on a delightful assault of guitar- and synth-driven rock that lit up the room and thawed the audience down to their toes.

Song worth checking out on Myspace: “Killer of the One”