SAVAK, Women of the Night, Tuff Sunshine @ 18th Ward

by Kate Hoos | Jul 21, 2021 | Shows

Savak performing outside of 18th Ward Brewery

SAVAK at 18th Ward Brewery

Summer Sundays presented by The New Colossus Fest weekly series of shows outside of 18th Ward Brewery continued this past weekend and incorporated a Declared Goods showcase featuring SAVAK, Women of the Night, and Tuff Sunshine (the first two time slots included Nick and the Old Sport and Squirrels From Hell and was not affiliated with the showcase).

I was definitely there to see SAVAK, because it had been over two years since seeing them last (I covered that show for BrooklynVegan which you can check out here) and hadn’t thought I’d be able to see anyone else’s set as I had a very busy day on Sunday. I arranged things just right to be able to swoop in right before SAVAK’S set since I was coming from a rehearsal that was fortunately nearby, and I initially thought I would only be able to stay for their set before having to dash off again to go back to the rehearsal space. But as luck would have it, things lined up that I was able to catch Women of the Night and part of Tuff Sunshine as well before running off again which was a nice treat.

SAVAK (which features former/current members of Holy Fuck, Obits, the Cops and Edsel) opened the showcase and their set included songs from their latest album “Rotting Teeth In the Horse’s Mouth,” released in April 2020, as well as some selections from their older albums. I was definitely very happy to get to see some of those songs played live finally as they definitely didn’t play any of them the last time I saw them (that I remember) and well…you know the rest. I really love the interplay of the dual guitars and especially when both vocalists- Sohrab Habibion and Michael Jaworski- sing together and play off of each other; these are definitely among their strongest moments and my favorite aspect of any band with dual vocalists. Head to this BTR Today feature to hear a 2020 interview with Jaworski about the writing and recording process for the album and the uncertainty of putting out music during a pandemic. They will play another show on Friday 8/6 at Mama Tried.

Women of the Night, who have a very brand new record “Sub Rosa” (it came out on 7/16), hit the middle spot and played a set of fun in the sun mod inspired garage rock. I was unfamiliar with them before seeing them and subsequently saw that they are actually a trio (or perhaps were in the past?) but they performed this day as a duo which really works for straight forward garage stuff where less is more and the stripped down feel of the music lends itself perfectly to minimalism in instrumentation.

I was also unfamiliar with Tuff Sunshine- which is the solo project of singer/guitarist Johnny Leitera- but was happy that they carried on the rock n roll fun atmosphere. For the final set of the day, they played catchy songs that touched on garage, blues and indie rock. Both bands definitely made me think of cruising to Rockaway Beach blasting this on the way, definitely heavy on the “pumping your fist driving too fast on the highway” vibes. I sadly had to leave halfway through Tuff Sunshine’s set but I was happy to be able to attend the show at all; I appreciate every person who is putting on shows right now and finding ways to make live music work as things are still on shaky ground.

Summer Sundays continue on July 25th with OK Cowgirl, Lady Pills, Cigarettes For Breakfast, Sharkswimmer, and Dead Leaf Echo.