Bellingham Rock 'n Roll: D.Y.A., Queen Anne's Revenge and The Sunshine Bumpers make noise at the Cabin

I've been to embarrassingly few rock 'n roll concerts lately. With the exception of last month's Thermals show at the Wild Buffalo, my live music consumption has pretty much been limited to the standard farmers market-friendly folk/blue grass bands, schmaltzy barbershop quartets and the impromptu hippy jams that seemed to go on endlessly at my old house. It's every 20-something Bellinghamster's God-given right and occasional civic duty to walk home with ears ringing from distorted guitar sounds and incoherent warbling from crappy PAs at local dives, and frankly I've been suffering from noise deficiency.

Fortunately, I was lucky enough to head down to the dive-turned-hipster-refuge known as the Cabin Tavern on Friday to watch three groups from right here in the 3-6-oh.

I like going to big shows now and then, but there is something about locals-only shows that remind me how cool it is to have a local music scene. They are the kind of gigs where you can run to the bar to get a fresh can of Rainier and still manage to get back to your spot in the front without having to worm your way through drunk high schoolers between songs. It almost makes you hope these guys never play big shows.

First up was punk/garage band D.Y.A., which stands for—well, visit their myspace page and you'll get about 30 ideas. I hold a soft spot in my heart for '90s punk rock, and this is a band that seems to understand how to channel that energy, add a splash of the Misfits and finish the whole thing off with a 21st-century kick from the rhythm section. And did I hear some ska upstrokes in there? Nice.

Mark told me they have a new album in the works, so keep an eye out!

Next up was straight-rock group Queen Anne's Revenge. Guitar-era licks and solos dominated the Queen Anne sound, and I have to say they pulled it off quite well. The thing I really like about these guys—and D.Y.A.—is the call-and-response singing between the guys in front. It's fun to watch bands when their members actually seem to be interacting with one another while they are playing, and both these bands looked like they were having a lot of fun.

It's refreshing to hear guitar-driven rock bands that don't sound cheesy or overly nostalgic.

The last act to take the stage was The Sunshine Bumpers.

The Rainiers I drank that night were definitely taking full effect by this point of the show, so my memory of this band's sound is admittedly hazy. The lead singer, Daisy, had quite a stage presence—owing as much to Karen O as Janis Joplin, in my opinion. Musically, they sounded to me much like they were trying a nod to '60s electric blues with a slightly sarcastic dive-bar blues idea in the back of their minds. But that might just be the Yakima Valley hops talking.