Returning to the Echoplex after two years, Check Yo’ Ponytail, the cross-genre club night created by Franki Chan, lived up to its billing on January 18 with disparate acts Royal Bangs and TOBACCO. Now dubbed Check Yo’ Ponytail 2, the packed show contrasted the quirky indie rock of the former band with the surreal psychedelic electronica of the latter.

Tennessee’s Royal Bangs – a five-piece for its first five years but now a trio – opened with their unique mongrel sound of straightforward indie rock, bred with unconventional song structure and sonic originality. They were followed by Black Moth Super Rainbow frontman TOBACCO, who brought along The Seven Fields of Aphelion and two mysterious stage dwellers who could only be described as Mr. and Mrs. Guy Fawkes. Set to projected spandex exercise tapes from the ’80s, the electronic experience could only be described as self-consciously, exhilaratingly unique.