Hailing that ‘Schenectady Sound’ at the Electric Grinch: Upstate Beat

The first time that local musician Mikey Baish heard the Abyssmals, he was walking his dog past a house in his Schenectady neighborhood where he heard the psychedelic-garage-rock band practicing.

“I can remember standing outside just listening to them play for a while. And I was like, ‘Holy smokes,’” said Baish, who plays guitar and sings in the Schenectady band the Sugar Hold.

“Eventually one day I saw them bringing guitars out to their car. So I stopped and said, ‘Hey, you’re in the band that practices here. You guys are really good.’”

Fast forward a few years, and the Abyssmals are one of the most revered bands in the local rock scene. They play frequently at No Fun in Troy, including opening slots last year for the Japanese all-women rock band the 5.6.7.8’s and for Canadian psych-pop band Elephant Stone.

The Abyssmals will also open for underground legend Jon Spencer when he plays at No Fun on Feb. 11.

“Honestly part of the reason I started the Sugar Hold was because I wanted to play a show with the Abyssmals,” said Baish.

The Sugar Hold, known for its surf-garage sound and humorous lyrics on light-hearted songs such as “Cheeseburger,” also plays frequently around the Capital Region. Gigs here in the Electric City have been harder to come by.

Baish hopes to rectify that this weekend, when he presents NECKFEST24 on Saturday, a night of all local, original rock and roll music at the Electric Grinch, a new music venue at 116 Jay St. in Schenectady that opened in November.

Baish, who works by day for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Schenectady, knew Electric Grinch owner Mitchell Ramsey from his other Schenectady bar, Jay Street Pub.

“When I heard that Mitch was opening the new music venue, I said, ‘Hey, let’s do a night of original music,’” said Baish. “There’s a lot of places in Schenectady where you can go and see a cover band, but not a lot of places where you can see original music.”

In addition to the Sugar Hold and the Abyssmals, Saturday’s all-Schenectady County triple bill includes the Greetings, a dreamy, bluesy indie-rock trio from Rotterdam.

“Although they’ve been around for a little while, I feel like they’re still like an up-and-coming band,” said Baish of the Greetings. “They don’t quite get their due. So I wanted to get them on the bill too, because I know how good they are. It’s important to me to help others get some exposure.”

Through his role as the director of communications for Jive Hive Live, a private recording space and broadcast studio located in a carriage house in Albany, Baish was already familiar with many local bands. Jive Hive Live brings bands in regularly for performances, recording them for free.

“I get to see how many great acts there are around here. I think it’s just awesome to be able to bring that to Schenectady,” he said.

In addition to Baish, the Sugar Hold features Matt Malone on bass, Dan Clark on guitar, Ryan McCullough on keyboards and Jesse Winchester on drums. The Sugar Hold heads to the studio next month to record a follow up E.P. to the band’s debut album, “SWEET,” released last year. “We’re a party band,” said Baish. “We like to have a good time. Our motto is, ‘Nobody has more fun than the Sugar Hold.’ We don’t take ourselves seriously. The only thing we take seriously is having a good time.”

Jarpon Reyes, frontman and guitarist of the Abyssmals, grew up in San Antonio, Texas, where he became enamored from a young age of psychedelic, garage-rock and underground bands such as the Velvet Underground, the Sonics and 13th Floor Elevators.

As a young musician, Reyes moved to Boston, where he met his future wife, Muffy, a Capital Region native. After the couple married, they returned to this area in 2016 and bought a house in Schenectady.

“My old band [Peachpit] had fallen apart in Boston, and it was getting super expensive, and Muffy got a really good job out here,” he says.

The Abyssmals recently bolstered their lineup – which, in addition to Jarpon Reyes, features guitarist Bob Forget and bassist Boris Cahrenger – with multi-instrumentalist Craig Dutra, drummer Ben Wessels and saxophonist Joe Paparone of Kimono Dragons and Victory Soul Orchestra. Keyboardist Muffy Reyes (yes, that Muffy Reyes) has been a key part of the band but is currently on hiatus to work on a solo album.

Although the Abyssmals rocked very hard before, the expanded lineup has given the band a “fuller” sound, said Reyes. “I think it’s going to be a lot more dynamic and looser.”

The band recently completed a full-length album, “No Pretty Face,” recorded with local musician and audio engineer Ryan Slowey and slated for release in spring or summer of this year. Expect to hear some songs from the upcoming album on Saturday.

Reyes draws lyrical inspiration from everything from body-snatching movie “They Cloned Tyrone” to dating game show “Love Is Blind.”

Live, the tunes are wrapped in a huge fuzzy ball of glorious sonic noise.

“It’s going to be a packed house,” said Baish of Saturday’s show. “I think people should get there early if they want to get a good spot.”

Hear “that Schenectady Sound” on Saturday at NECKFEST24 featuring the Abyssmals, the Sugar Hold and the Greetings at Schenectady’s newest music venue, the Electric Grinch. 8 p.m.

The Week Ahead

• Acclaimed local singer-songwriter Sean Rowe brings his deep baritone and powerful songs to the Cock ‘N Bull Restaurant in Galway tonight. Seating from 5:30 to 6:30 for the 7:30 p.m. show.
• The high-energy Yonder Mountain String Band celebrates 25 years as forerunners of the “jamgrass” movement, blending progressive bluegrass with rock, psychedelic and improvisational music at Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs on Friday. 7:30 p.m.
• Musical surgeons and improvisational performers TV Doctors come together to cure musical boredom at Wolf Hollow Brewing Company in Glenville on Saturday. 6 p.m.
• The astrologically themed Planetarium dance party at No Fun in Troy on Saturday celebrates Aquarius and air signs with a theme of neon dreams inspired by the glitz and glamour of 1980s and ‘90s Miami. 8 p.m.
• Old-time banjo player and Americana songwriter Carolyn Shapiro of Glens Falls celebrates the release of her second album, “Take It Easy,” at Caffe Lena on Sunday with a full band featuring Connor Armbruster on fiddle, James Gascoyne on guitar and Oona Grady on bass. 7 p.m

Reach Kirsten Ferguson at theupstatebeat@gmail.com.