I am embarrassed to say that my last time hanging out at The Smell was a very long time ago. My excuse is that I've been putting limits on how often I go out and so the venue fell out of my rotation. Starting in late 2025, I started to realize that I needed to head out to The Smell again. Recently I took a look at their schedule with the intension that I was going to head out to The Smell on either a Friday or Saturday night no matter what. The Anti Groupies were playing Friday night and I looked them up on Instagram. The first thing I noticed was this post, which is a Rocknite Long Beach interview with the band. If you've glanced through this blog site, you know I have a lot of respect for Rocknite's ability to find talented bands and singers. (My familiarity is Rocknite LA vs Rocknite Long Beach.) The decision was made: I was off finally off to The Smell.
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| The Anti Groupies at The Smell |
Comment of the set: We're working our asses off here.
That was a command to The Smell crowd to get closer to the stage.
The four piece band's set focused mainly on songs from their debut album Pretty Vicious that came out in 2025. I was pleasantly surprised that their set went for 45 minutes. I guess that indicates how long it has been since I was last at The Smell. For some reason, I thought that The Smell restricted bands to 30 minutes sets. Ha ha, maybe the venue is returning to those earlier days when the last set ended well past midnight.
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| The Anti Groupies at The Smell |
The band's Spotify page has the following bio, "With a punk attitude, edgy style, and a powerful message, it is no doubt that The Anti Groupies are raising the bar in rock music . . . They discuss heartbreak, toxic friendships, rebelling conformity, and uncomfortable social situations."
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| The Anti Groupies at The Smell |
The bio also mentions that they've played over 100 shows in the last two years. Referencing back to the comment of the set, they do work their asses off. Working hard on stage also requires hydration. The temperature inside The Smell was on the hot end of the thermometer and by the time the band got to "Dumb Blond Bitch," vocalist-guitarist Cassidy Fleeman was asking a friend in the audience to find her stainless steel water bottle. That song appears to be unreleased, but needs to be. It is a Sunset Strip anthem.
The set was filled with relentless energy driven by the hair flings from bassist Sydney Moore and the fearless edge of the stage performance by guitarist Isabella Broersma. One shouldn't forget the rock beats and backing vocals provided by drummer Kyla Foster.
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| The Anti Groupies at The Smell |
The song spotlight goes to "Nice is Not an Invite." A metal song that blasts the notion that being nice to the opposite sex means anything else other than just being nice. The opening lyrics makes that point loud and clear via some angrily worded lyrics about how people in the music scene misbehave.
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| The Anti Groupies at The Smell |
You should think of the consequence.
Setlist: Ghost of You, Take Your Place, Taste of You, Dumb Blond Bitch, Not My Problem, Regret Me, It's Not Me It's You, Envy, I'm So Bitter, I Can't, Cigarette Slut, Punching Bag, Nice is Not An Invite, Read the Room.
Will be playing the Viper Room on May 22nd.
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