Mumblr and More @ Milkboy.

Text by Jenelle Janci. Images by Chris Narisi.

Milkboy hosted a fun night of punk acts on Thursday, but the groups featured were more polished than your average basement bands.

Headlined by Philly fuzz-punk outfit Mumblr, the night also featured music from Virginia band Big Air, Left and Right and Well Boys.

Big Air started the night with an upbeat set. The back-to-basics two-piece let both the guitar work and drumming shine. Its live performance, notably less fuzzy than the recording, offered enough grooves to loosen up the crowd. Greg Sloan, the band’s drummer, said they connected to the show through their friends in Left and Right. Sloan said the bands are originally from the same area in Virginia.

The crowd started filling out by the time Left and Right took the stage. The band’s full sound is complemented by multiple vocalists. The ability to switch-up front men made each song sound different from the last. Some songs were driven by chanty melodies with all members joining in to sing, while others were more classic pop-punk sounding. The group ended its set on the jammy “Shallow Trick.”

Despite filling in for the originally scheduled Smoother day-of, Well Boys didn’t seem phased at all. The band’s seamless transitions between songs and masterful guitar work pleased the crowd. Well Boys was a good gateway punk band to Mumblr to finish the night off.

While some bands lose their luster over time, Mumblr is only improving with age. Having performed frequently over the past year, including at South by Southwest, the band flaunts a sound that just keeps getting tighter. The soundcheck evolved into a partial rendition of Weezer’s “My Name is Jonas,” which was arguably good enough to be part of the set list.

However, there was no denying when the set had officially started. The band opened with hometown ode “Philadelphia,” a song catchy enough to hum but punk enough to bang your head to. Frontman Nick Morrison’s distinct voice commands attention on its own, but all members displayed an impressive use of dynamics throughout the set. These guys may be punks, but they flaunt serious musicianship.

The crowd sang along to almost every song in the band’s set, which was capped off by “Ape” off the band’s album “White Jesus, Black God.”

Mumblr will open the July Red Bull Sound Select show (curated by Jump), so stay tuned for more details on that in the coming weeks.