The Fleshtones at the Bowery Electric

In 1976, Keith Streng found musical instruments left behind by a previous tenant in the basement of a house he was renting in Queens, New York. This happened during the start of the first wave of punk rock, a time when anyone and everyone could be a rock star, with no musical proficiency required. Neighborhood friends including Peter Zaremba started coming around for basement parties and the Fleshtones was born. The garage rock band became regulars on the local music circuit and had a few national breaks, appearing in the British punk/new wave concert film Urgh! A Music War in 1980, Dick Clark's popular American Bandstand television program in 1982, the soundtrack of two movies Bachelor Party in 1984 and I Was a Teenage Zombie in 1987, and on the final episode of Andy Warhol's short-lived MTV show, Andy Warhol's Fifteen Minutes, in 1987. Nevertheless, the Fleshtones developed only a cult audience and minimal commercial success. An authorized biography in 2007, Sweat: The Story of the Fleshtones, America's Garage Band, and a feature documentary in 2009, Pardon Us for Living, but the Graveyard Is Full, did not significantly increase the band's profile. Now based in Brooklyn, New York, the band since 1990 has been vocalist Zaremba, guitarist Streng, bassist Ken Fox, and drummer Bill Milhizer. The Fleshtones' 19th and most recent studio album is 2016's The Band Drinks for Free; the band plans to release The Face of the Screaming Werewolf in 2020.

While many other first wave punk, new wave, and garage rock bands have disappeared and reunited, the Fleshtones never went on hiatus. Returning to the Bowery Electric tonight, the Fleshtones dug into catalogue material and also played newer songs, including the forthcoming "The Face of the Screaming Werewolf." The show matched primitive-sounding rock and roll with high energy and tongue-in-cheek lyrics. Zaremba sang like an old rhythm and blues vocalist, occasionally played harmonica and organ, and led the quartet's wild carousing. Although Milhizer was tied to his drum kit, the other musicians repeatedly carved a path and performed in the audience. The set included no moody or meditative moments. Instead, it was a start-to-finish set of raw bootstrap rock and roll party tunes. The Fleshtones demonstrated that old bands do not need to slow down.