Holy White Hounds tore up the stage at the Maintenance Shop Thursday night with loud drum fills and louder guitars.

Pelvis, an emo band from Ames, wandered onto the stage at 8 p.m. and began their set promptly after some audio issues.

While Pelvis’ volume was always high, the frequent switch between clean and distorted guitar tones kept the music from becoming monotonous.

Sleep Study, a rock trio from Minneapolis, was much more subdued compared to the other acts, placing more of an emphasis on delicate melody than pure power.

“That was our loudest one, its hipster jams from now on,” front man Ryan Plewacki said after the group’s first song.

The Minneapolis band was clearly having a good time, whipping out a cover of a Buzzcocks tune and even playing a song that the band had just written on Tuesday, according to Plewacki.

Holy White Hounds began promptly afterwards and strutted out to the stage, beer in hand, to kick off the show with a loud and upbeat song.

Their single “Blind” came second in the set and energized the crowd, who began dancing and singing along.

The headliner’s major strength came with the band’s stage presence, which was full of confidence and cockiness. There were plenty of middle fingers, head bangs and snarky remarks between bandmates.

“You guys are smart right? So how come in your commercials everyone’s always whispering? It made sense when they were in the library, but then they’re whispering at the football stadium?” front man Brenton Dean said.

“Switchblade,” another popular song, came mid-way through the set and was greeted by cheers from the audience when introduced. This track featured a sinister bass line and a spacy bridge which made it a set highlight.

“I once tried to write a song using all of my own chords. It didn’t go too well. It was about my girlfriend and she dumped me,” Dean said.

Fan favorite “In Your Skin” ended the regular set and the band didn’t even have a chance to walk off-stage before the crowd began to chant for an encore.

The encore encapsulated everything that made the show so entertaining. It was loud and in-your-face and had both Dean and guitarist James Manson on the floor grinding out solos before ending with Dean’s best Gollum impression, whispering “My precious” multiple times into the microphone.

Holy White Hounds owned the M-Shop stage Thursday night and proved why they are quickly becoming one of the most talked about bands in Des Moines.