Apollo Sunshine / Photo by Sachyn Mital

Massachusetts beard-rockers Apollo Sunshine hit Brooklyn's Union Pool last night (Aug. 4) with an hour-plus of effects pedal-drenched guitar and harmonized give-it-all-you-got vocals, channeling the energy of the Flaming Lips and Neutral Milk Hotel. Their latest album, Shall Noise Upon, was just released, and from the sound of things, it has arrived in the nick of time for the last bit of summer.

Openers I Am the Bison is actually Apollo guitarist Sam Cohen’s one-man band, and he started things off with a stripped- down acoustic guitar-cum-kick drum mini-set. Undeterred by his limitations, when a drumstick-operating device fell apart, Cohen merely laughed it off and finished the set using his foot in its place.

Following Bison were the Self Righteous Brothers, who, fittingly, gave equal nods to R&B and indie rock. Their three-piece horn section filled up the room and came in very handy for their cover of the Beatles’ “Got to Get You into My Life.”

By the time Apollo Sunshine took the stage the crowd was more than warmed up. The band displayed intimidating musicianship as they crossed genres on new songs like “Honestly” and “Money” and provided enough rhythm to keep people moving for the next week. It was pretty clear that if they had it their way, the sun wouldn't have lowered on their set just yet.

Check out pictures from last night on page 2