Obits rolled into Cleveland on a Thursday night just in time for a late-Winter blizzard. I felt a little bad for the guys, they aren’t kids anymore after all. Kicking off your tour in Cleveland to a weather-thinned crowd after spending 8 hours in a treacherous van ride might not get a bunch of possibly jaded grown-ass men fired up to rock. I was a little worried about how things were going to pan out.

Sub Pop band Jaill played before Obits. My hipster guard was up because the singer had a mustache and pastel T-shirt with cats or some such on it. They reminded me of new-wavish “college bands” from the 80s whose members often sported Sally Jesse Raphael-style glasses. I guess the Embarrassment would be an example of this. Anyhow, it was well-executed geeky fun.

It was pretty late when Obits started setting up, maybe 11:30. The smallish conglomeration of oldsters, who no doubt held memories of the noise-rock glories of Drive Like Jehu, and younger folks, who maybe viewed Hot Snakes as a formative influence, shuffled to the stage. After shaking off the rust with an opener, the small crowd broke the ice by good-naturedly heckling the band with absurd song requests. Instead of poisoning the mood, this seemed to relax them and they improvised a set list with help from the boozy audience members.

After playing “Widow of My Dreams” from their debut I Blame You it was clear to everyone that Obits were indeed there to rock, people were looking around at each other shaking their heads and smiling as if to say, “now that’s the shit.” The atmosphere seemed to fit Obits’ garagey, no-nonsense rock aesthetic; things were loose and fun, like a house show with a really freaking good band.

The guitars of Froberg and Sohrab Habibion (of Edsel “fame”) sounded great with the clean channels cranked way up and the reverb spread on thick. Their dueling lines explored surf, blues, early rock, spy-music (is there such a genre?), and even new wave territory -- basically, everything that’s cool about rock guitars that doesn’t require Marshall stacks and loads of distortion.

Other than the guitars, Froberg’s vocals are central to Obits’ sound. The guy has a voice that cuts right through the thickest wall of guitar noise without becoming tuneless or losing inflection. Drummer Scott Gursky and bassist Scott Simpson play the cool foils to the guitars and vocals, with a restrained approach that gives everything room to breathe while authoritatively holding things down.

They played most of the tracks from I Blame You, with highlights (aside from the aforementioned “Widow of My Dreams”) being “Pine On,” a double-time version of “Fake Kinkade” they called “Fast Kinkade” and “Lillies in the Street.” They didn’t do “Two Headed Coin” for some reason, Froberg muttered something about it being an “albatross.” Too bad, it’s an excellent rock n’ roll song.

The set included several songs from Obits’ new album, Moody, Standard and Poor, which at the time of the show had yet to be released (although copies on CD and vinyl were available at the merch table). These songs seemed a bit darker and carried more tension than the largely garage-rock rave ups of the debut. “Shift Operator” was a standout from the new album with its methodical pace, distorted bass undercurrent and sinewy traded guitar lines. “You Gotta Lose” was another new track that left an impression, it starts out with an uptempo staccato riff and careens along into a chorus that begs for you to howl along.

They wrapped up a multi-song encore with the rowdy “Talking to The Dog” and I headed out to clear the snow off my car and skid home with no regrets for having braved the weather.