Nashville local band, Awake! Awake!, delivered a unique sound to a mixed crowd at Third and Lindsley Friday night, flooding the airwaves with intense melodies, high-energy riffs and melodic background noises. They followed an 8-piece indie folk band, which set the bar pretty high for the following acts. Awake! Awake! prepared to take the stage, strategically placing household lamps hooked up to kill switches, enabling the band to turn the lights off and on during the set, along with bright blue Christmas lights. Awake! Awake!’s set lacked fluid transition with a few sound issues, but the band, like most of its members, is fairly young. Despite technical difficulties, Awake! Awake! delivered big sound to the audience, particularly with new songs “Distance” and “Daylight,” both of which are on the album “Bittersweet Horizon,” released early July. The band’s unique sound makes them difficult to compare with others. Small similarities can be made, such as the fullness of Paper Route or the high resonance from the guitars used by a lot of postmodern rock bands. Yet Awake! Awake! mixes their ideas and influences and twists them to produce a sound that is hard to pinpoint. The lead guitarist produced a variety of sounds with his pedals to keep the audience listening, and the bassist moved about the stage wildly, which was matched by the drummer. Instrumentally, the band sounded great, but the lead singer, who sounded confident when the tempo was slower and the sound of the band was lower, needed to open up his voice so he could be heard over the band. The band’s talent is still evident despite a few riffs in the show, and their distinctive sound warrants a listen. Check out their MySpace for some free downloads of songs worth a listen off their new album.–EJ Hirsch