Joyful Noise: Under the Rug

Smiles abound at the Iron Horse

Under the Rug performing at the Iron Horse Pub / photos by author

Under the Rug’s Facebook page describes the Austin, Texas five-piece as and “Odd alt outfit: almost-too-dark humor, big irreverence, lush, humongous recordings.” The band played a date at the Iron Horse Pub recently and their humor and irreverence was on display from the start.

Under the Rug followed Hellen Bach to the stage, and a less-confident band would have come out with a banger to keep the theme going — not Under the Rug. Singer Casey and her band came out with a soft, almost whispered number, and the rock fans in the crowd quickly vacated, leaving behind a devoted Under the Rug following that was loud and raucous all night.

Casey, Under the Rug

Under the Rug might describe themselves as alt-rock, but I personally would characterize their sound as light contemporary music with college radio, and sometimes, folk overtones, plus sweet harmony vocals that were head and shoulders above most I’ve heard recently.

Smiles abound during Under the Rug’s stage show and the entire experience is joyful. Their original music has hundreds of thousands of listeners, and all those people are not wrong. Under the Rug is something special.

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