Audio By Carbonatix
Minibosses does exactly what it says on the tin: It plays video game covers, and it’s been doing it since before “Video Game Cover Band” was a genre. The group’s oeuvre focuses on the ’80s — its most-recent album included a medley of some lesser-known Legend of Zelda tracks, a 12-minute ode to Kid Icarus, and Tecmo Bowl — and so does its sound, in which each of the NES’ catalog of bleeps and bloops is doubled by super-bright lead guitars in front of some truly hyperactive drumming. Minibosses has been doing this for more than a decade, now — I first heard the band by searching “Mega Man 2” on Napster — and these guys are good at it. If you’re not the kind of person who has a particular robot master to request while they’re playing Mega Man 2 tracks — Bubble Man, obviously — you might not get the appeal, but you will appreciate the energy. Joining them in Tempe is Shinobu, a California indie whose full-length Worstward Ho! offers shoutouts to trepanning, Samuel Beckett, and Livejournal. The openers should fit right in.
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