Tayls // Akronauts // Ataraxis

A Nashville band routed its Ohio date through our corner of Highland Square, so Friday we've got three on the bill.

Tayls comes up from East Nashville on a run that has them in Cincinnati the night before and New York the night after. They call what they do "friendship punk," which in practice means power-pop with a crowded stage and a frontman, Taylor Cole, who treats a set like a production. Their debut record was produced by Jake Ingalls of the Flaming Lips, and Nashville Scene once named them the city's best pop megaband. Expect more people and more instruments up there than a room our size usually holds.

Akronauts have been at it since 2019 and they're a Highland Square regular. They headlined PorchRokr down the street last August. Their thing is loud rock with funk and grunge worked in, songs meant to move a room instead of fill the air politely behind your conversation. They don't take the rock-band business too seriously, and that's most of the fun.

Ataraxis open the night, another Akron band that runs with the local crowd.

The Matinee is a dive bar at 812 W. Market St., open daily 2 PM to 2:30 AM.

Happy hour runs until 6 every day: $2 domestics, $3 Fireball, $4 drafts, $4 Jameson, $4 Milagro, $4 Long Islands.

Get here early, drink cheap, stay for the bands.