LA-based band Atta Boy just released their fourth full-length album, Silt, and on Sunday the quartet took the stage at DC9 to a sold-out crowd. In fact, this show had been sold-out since it was announced several months ago.

The band of Eden Brolin (vocals/guitar), Freddy Reish (guitar/bass), Dashel Thompson (guitar/keys) and Lewis Pullman (drums) have played together since their high school days. The quartet released their first LP, Out of Sorts when they were in college, but then there was a pretty sizable break in between that debut and their sophomore record, Big Heart Matters in 2020. In that time there was a tangible jump in the maturity of songs like “Shade” and “Lucky” where poetic stories unfold (Alone in your shotgun trailer / From the hill looks like a / Chinese lantern).

That storytelling structure continues in Atta Boy’s new album. In “Oh, Mama” Eden Brolin sings over a bed of brass “Oh Mother, you sway me / with your moss hair / I’m a baby / reaching for your lichen arms” and you can feel those words.

Showing up to DC9 super early (even for me, which is saying something) there was already a quiet line on the first floor which soon grew to fill the entirety of the bar area before the doors opened and everyone rushed in. Sometimes, especially in smaller venues, seeing a sea of strangers staring back can be daunting, but openers Bucko from Richmond, Virginia seemed to eat it up with the highlight of their set being this super fun song “about demolition derbies,” according to singer Ava Coles.

I had a little bit of time with Silt before Atta Boy’s DC stop on Sunday, and the more I listened to the record the more I got excited to see how these songs would translate in a live setting.

Starting off slowly with “1st Street Bridge” and “Oh, Mama” from the recent release, the audience did something I rarely see at shows now – no one said a word. I’d like to think it was because those songs, like so many on the new record, are so easy to get lost in. Especially the latter with those harmonies coming in from Brolin and Thompson on the chorus.

Things picked up with a bouncy rendition of “Shade” from Big Heart Manners, and I really liked the faster groove of this version. And one of the catchiest tunes on Silt, “Full Cloud”, had this packed house dancing around (well, as much as they could being shoulder-to-shoulder).

Listen to the single, “Full Cloud” by Atta Boy below:

Most of the 17 song set was devoted to the new album, but there were some surprises. “Roadblock (Six Weeks)” is probably the oldest song the band played. It’s hard to imagine that the song is 15 years old. “We continuously tried to play it on tour,” Brolin told the crowd. “But we were like maybe we should table that one. So finally for the last leg of this baby tour we’re gonna play it.” As the crowd sang along to the chorus I could see more than a few smiling faces.

Atta Boy wrapped up the set with the last two songs on the new album, “Can’t Hardly” and “I Could Keep It” making the perfect cap to a outstanding set.

Atta Boy feels like one of those bands you should catch before they start playing huge venues. Although the band has wrapped up their current run, they hit the road again out West through September.

The setlist included:

1st Street Bridge
Oh, Mama
Shade
Full Cloud
Deap Sea Ladder
Night
Pale Blue Sky
Devoted
Roadblock (Six Weeks)
Haven’t Yet
Walden Pond
A Dog’s Adventure
Silt
Scratch
Crab Park
Can’t Hardly
I Could Keep It

Check out more photos of Atta Boy at DC9 Nightclub July 19, 2026. All photos are copyright David LaMason:

And check out photos of Bucko opening the evening at DC9: