Steven Deal “Radio Twelve” CD Release at Cafe Nine Review

Steven Deal

Boy Genius and Mr. Ray Neal

I won't go into details about the who's who in the bands because you can read about all that here.

We arrived at Cafe Nine right as The Mold Monkies were going on. I was a bit surprised to see the place packed. I mean really packed. The Mold Monkies played a nice set of straight up powerpop, somewhat reminiscent of The Records, Flaming Groovies and Nick Lowe. All in all, quite nice jangly guitars and sweet harmonies. I really didn't mind that it felt like they played just a wee bit too long for the first band. Everyone was digging them.

Up next was Boy Genius from Brooklyn. I've seen them play a couple of times before and each time they get better. Songs full of hooks, fun stage banter. The big surprise was when Ray Neal (ex Miracle Legion and Polaris), got up on stage with them and played a few songs. The high point was a cover of “The Backyard” by Miracle Legion. Jason of Boy Genius did a great job of holding down the vocals.

Finally up was Steven Deal himself. He played songs from his new release as well as several from previous bands and some covers. His performance was raw, heartfelt and had a sense of urgency that you don't usually hear on recordings. He hasn't played in a long time and it was great to see him up on stage.