For the release of their debut LP “Swear I’m Good At This,” the Brooklyn duo, Diet Cig, played two consecutive shows at local venue Baby’s All Right. The early show was opened by surf pop rockers, Daddy Issues, with the late show featuring the “dashing dino dames” of T-Rextasy.
At the late show, T-Rextasy brought all the flair that are accustomed to their sets. Primarily playing off of their album “Jurassic Punk,” the band incorporated hard-hitting unreleased tracks like “Brunch Boy” and “Baby” to which even hardcore fans of the group could be seen singing along to in the crowd. Although the group shares their name sake with a T.Rex and a Marc Bolan cover band, none of their music does. The quintet also features some of the power stances and glam rock moves of the famed hard rock group while playing femme fueled punk pop.
One of my earliest memories of going to shows in New York was catching Diet Cig at the former DIY venue Palisades. As singer/guitarist Alex Luciano and drummer Noah Bowman lept around the postcard-sized stage to the then recent “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift, the sentiment came full circle as the two bounced around to Cher’s “Believe” on a much larger platform. While their sets usually start off with faster paced material, to celebrate the new record the duo began with the slow-burning “Sixteen” with anecdotes of small town romance and sexist double standards. Before diving into their single “Tummy Ache,” Luciano took the time to relay to the audience about their policy of shows being safe spaces and to simply get the attention of the band if a crowd member felt physically uncomfortable; this was in addition to the venue’s already existing policy of “No Racism, No Homophobia, No Sexism, No Sexual Harassment, No Body Shaming, Offenders Will Be Asked To Leave.” The rest of the set saw cuts from the record interspersed with fan favorite cuts from their EPs “Over Easy” and “Dinner Date.” The show felt well-paced between the often breakneck speed of the older material and the more subdued vibe of the record. With the closing track “Harvard” off of their early single, the group filled the stage with everyone from their mothers, the tour crew and even Ben Hopkins from the band PWR BTTM who could be seen throughout the set also yelling along.
