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Up Next: No Fear In The Frights At The Foundry

By Michael Cerio 

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Taped along the bar at The Foundry in Philadelphia was a single piece of paper.

"NO MOSHING. NO CROWD SURFING. NO AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR. Please and Thank You" it read in black bold letters.

The size and placement of the sign acted as a kind aside to the mostly under 21 crowd pressed against the stage to see The Frights on Thursday night.

The San Diego band which released their second album You Are Going To Hate This in February, specialize in complexly influenced garage punk, a style they call "dirty doo wop" – more directly though, The Frights specialize in aggressive behavior.

It's a young band that radiates a certain soulful angst, borrowing some style from 60's surf pop and doo wop. Like Jan And Dean on a speedball of fuzzed-out rebellion. Sonically it's a mature form of punk rock because of its arrangement, even if they are shouting "I hate my mom and dad" over it.

With an "enchantment under the sea" creeping guitar and a muscular Jerry Lee Lewis-like quiver to his voice, lead singer Mikey Carnevale eased the crowd in. As the drums exploded though, so did the crowd – violating at least two of the three instructions the sign had warned against.

As security reacted, the music stopped.

"Everybody's cool. Raise your hand if you're not going to hurt anybody," Carnevale said with a smile in an effort to broker a treaty between the pit and the peacekeepers.

The Frights then launched back into their frenetic assault, and those in the sea of sweat and limbs attempted to turn it down a notch.

At one point in the set, security attempted to throw out one of the members of the pit. "Don't kick him out" pleaded Carnevale with the guard.

He was allowed to return to the outskirts of the moshing, now with more security surrounding its edges. In the fragile ecosystem of rock shows, this one ended happy despite a few hiccups.

"He's just doing his job," announced Carnevale as the crowd groaned. "The sign should be bigger, but that's ok."

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