“It’s just so much fun to play,” drummer Reena Yu said, winding down from her surreal, groovy set with local rock band VVEBS Thursday night. The group joined other Connecticut band Bajzelle and The Great Googly Moogly from New York for three sets of rock & roll at the Elm Street bar Three Sheets.
Yu played to a room of bar regulars and rock fans, jumping and nodding in their long shorts and baseball caps. Somewhere beyond the crowd, in a back room with a pool table, a pair of long white ears might have perked up too.
Yu is a drummer in both VVEBS and the local band The Problem with Kids Today — which Yu said is more “old school rock & roll, punk, power pop, jangle pop” compared to VVEBS’ “post-punk, rock & roll, psychedelic sprinkled into the rock.” She is also a visual artist. One of her creations, titled “White Bunny,” hung on the wall in Three Sheets’ back room as her band played Thursday night.
Yu made the piece for one of Three Sheets’ “Art in the Back … Music in the Front” shows, where the bar displays themed artwork from the community and puts on live music sets. The instructions for this month’s show were to get thrifted art and, in Yu’s words, “put your own twist to it.” Yu grabbed an Easter bunny painting from Goodwill, complete with Easter eggs and a little red-and-yellow outfit, and turned it into what she called “creepy art.”
Inspired by the A24 horror flick Midsommar, she used her brush to dress the bunny up in an ominous May Queen adornment of flowers. “And bloodshot eyes, it didn’t have bloodshot eyes before.”
Yu’s cool, steady delivery of everything she talked about, from in-depth music terminology to creepy bunny artwork, translated into her demeanor while drumming. While 12-string-guitarist and singer Connor Rog danced around on stage and bassist Owen Bigler melted into the music, Yu stayed solid at the back, her wild, fast-moving hands accompanied by a calm expression throughout. It felt like nothing could ever be too much of an effort for her.
VVEBS’ sound expanded, leaving enough space for things to get weird, before amping up into tight rhythms and repeated riffs. The band worked itself into a frenzy at times. It was the kind of music that made you want to scream along. Yu’s drums were relentless, never stopping or slowing until the songs’ long closeouts, characterized by sounds of cymbals twinkling and the bandmates having fun.
Moments of sweetness punctuated VVEBS’ set, with Yu repping the merch of another band on the bill (a Bajzelle tee) and Rog shouting out his mom in the crowd. It was Mama Rog, first name Mimi, who pointed me towards Yu’s bunny art in the first place.
What VVEBS really showcased Thursday was their ability to prolong a moment, to push it to its limit and transform it. Yu did this like a natural, both in the music and in her painting. “I feel good,” she said about her set. Deep in the back, I hope her creepy bunny heard her and smiled.
