[Photos] The Duke Spirit @ 9:30 Club

Although I haven't mentioned them very much, I have become a big fan of The Duke Spirit . I liked a track they had on a sampler a while back and was pleasantly surprised by their latest album, Neptune , which is full of bluesy, garage rock goodness. It's one of my favorite albums of the year and it's been in heavy rotation on my iPod since February.

So of course I jumped at the chance of seeing them at the 9:30 Club, especially after Redboy gave them his stamp of approval. And they did not disappoint. They were full of vim and vigor, whipping a fairly sizable crowd into a frenzy and, best of all, they sounded spot on. While the guys in the band don't do much of anything on stage, it's hard to take your eyes off of frontwoman Leila Moss as she prowls around. "The Step and The Walk" is one of the best Bunnymen songs not written by Ian McCulloch and their other standout tunes like "Lassoo" and "You Really Wake Up The Love In Me" were straight fire. Can't wait for these guys to come back to town.

Sadly I didn't stick around for the Eagles of Death Metal. It was a school night and they weren't due on stage until 11:45.

[Photo Gallery]
The Duke Spirit @ 9:30 Club