Pilcrow

Last Friday (April 11) I went to El Corazón to see My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult. Originally Beehive were on the bill, so that was really who I was going to see, but unfortunately they had to cancel; I decided to go anyhow, as I know and enjoy at least one Thrill Kill Kult song ("Glamour Is a Rocky Road") and I was curious to see what the show would be like. Also on the bill were local bands Miss Solar System and Furniture Girls, and the Urban Bombshells burlesque troupe performed between the musical acts.

I don't have much to say about the opening acts. I came in late and missed much of Furniture Girls' set. This is the third time I've seen them in almost as many months, and they remain moderately entertaining but not really interesting to me. Perhaps next year they'll have developed further. I did think their music was a bit light for the bill, but they were the last-minute replacements for Beehive so that's excusable. As for Miss Solar System, they've added a drummer to their live lineup since I saw them last year, but since their music is already rhythm-heavy drum & bass, it's more for color than anything else. The music was pretty solid, but not really remarkable - I enjoyed it, but nothing really stood out for me. Like Furniture Girls, I'd like to see more growth from Miss Solar System; I feel like they could be more exciting than they have been.

The Urban Bombshells were also much less interesting than I expected. They performed three or four routines between each musical act. With one exception involving popping balloons, they did not perform stripteases, just themed dance numbers involving scantily-clad women, and the dancing (and striptease) was really more just prancing about in a vaguely enticing manner. One routine involving a maiden menaced by an evil priestess of sorts and her minions involved a lot of flailing about on or near the stage floor, so most of it was only visible to the front row of the audience. The Urban Bombshells could have been a fun addition to the show, but I ended up feeling I'd rather have seen another band on the lineup.

My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult are the duo of Groovie Mann (vocals) and Buzz McCoy (synths, backing vocals). Appearing with another synth player (throughout the show) and a female vocalist (on most songs), they played a mix of heavy dance music influenced by industrial rock, goth rock, surf rock, and even disco. Both the style and substance of the music evoke exploitation films of the Sixties, reveling in sex, drugs, rock and roll, and a little flirting with Satanism on the side. As a show, it was tamer than I expected, particularly for a twentieth-anniversary tour; there were no dancing girls or other theatrics, just video clips running on the curtain behind the band. However, that did put the focus on the music, which was plenty of entertainment in itself. Although they didn't play "Glamour..." as I hoped they would, they did play many early tracks including the hits "Kooler Than Jesus", "Sex on Wheelz", and "The Days of Swine and Roses". Thrill Kill Kult got me bopping and dancing about, and made up for the lackluster earlier groups. They brought the fun to the show, and I'm glad I went.

Only six photos from this show, three of Thrill Kill Kult, one each of the other bands and of an Urban Bombshells dancer; the photos start here.

Last night I went to El Corazón to see Halou, with Mexican Institute of Sound, Beehive, and Miss Solar System. The show had a couple scheduling peculiarities. Both Beehive and Miss Solar System were brought in as substitutes for Zoe Keating (formerly of Rasputina); fitting in two artists in place of one meant they each had a shorter than normal set, no more than half an hour. The other peculiarity was that the headliners, Halou, were bumped up a slot, leaving Mexican Institute of Sound to close out the evening.

Miss Solar System are an electronic trio, but appeared as a duo as their vocalist was ill. Although one member is described on their website as a multi-instrumentalist, no traditional instruments were in evidence; the sound was made solely with synthesizers, samplers, mixers, and other electronic gear. As might be expected, they played a groovy mix of drum 'n bass, breakbeat, house and downtempo. They had a good sound that warmed me up from the bitter chill outside and had me tapping my toes, but it was missing something to make them really stand out from the other good electronic artists I've seen in the past. I suspect that missing something was their vocalist, and I look forward to seeing the full band in the future and learning whether I'm right.

Beehive continue to be one of my favorite Seattle bands. The duo are Butterfly Beats on keyboards and laptop, and David Miller on guitar and slide guitar, with both sharing vocals. They played a high-energy blend of breakbeat and rock that practically demands dancing, though to my surprise no one did; perhaps the audience was still chilled from the cold, or it just isn't the kind of club where that happens. Just like when I saw them last March, they were in high spirits and clearly delighted to be on stage. They debuted the title track to their upcoming album, Pretty Little Thieves, which sounded good despite some technical problems at the start. I had hoped there might be another one or two new songs, but I'll just have to be patient until this coming March, which is when they said they expect to have their CD release party.

Halou are a trio, featuring Rebecca Coseboom on vocals, Ryan Coseboom on guitar, keyboard and synth, and Count on acoustic/electronic drums and occasional guitar. They had an additional musician on acoustic bass viol and bass guitar. Although they are generally considered to be an electronic band, I found their sound to be much closer to ethereal rock, made for listening and absorbing rather than feeling and dancing. Still, the sound shifted easily between the ethereal and the electronic, with acoustic bass on some of the crunchier songs and electronic drums on some of the more ethereal ones. Rebecca used three different microphones throughout the set to get different vocal effects, something I haven't seen before and rather liked. Strange video loops played on a screen behind the band during some of the tracks, adding to the moodiness of the music; in contrast, Rebecca frequently had a huge grin on her expressive face, betraying how much she was enjoying the set. I too had a big grin on my face, as I've been meaning to see Halou for a few years now (and I'm sure I've missed a couple shows here in Seattle already), and now that I'd finally made it, they lived up to my expectations. I picked up their latest full-length, Wholeness & Separation, which came out last year, along with two EPs, Albatross and Separation. Those will be on my iPod for a while, no doubt.

Mexican Institute of Sound is officially the one-man project of Camilo Lara (DJ Pata Pata), but he appeared with an additional musician for the show - presumably Oliver Castro, who is also listed as a band member on their MySpace page. Like opening act Miss Solar System, MIS had a couple banks of electronic gear and no traditional instruments, not even keyboard. However, their sound drew upon a mix of lounge, dub, cha-cha, and other Latin American dance music. Mix is the key word here, as the two artists created an ever-changing stream of music with lots of samples and electronic effects. Lara threw repeated wordless vocals - "hey!" and "ah!" and "ok!" - on top of the music, often sampling himself and mixing it right back in. As the final band of the evening, they suffered with the usual sparse audience, but they showed no lack of energy or enthusiam. MIS would be a good band to see at a club packed with people who came out to dance, and I'd like to see that happen sometime. But the music was also good just for listening, and I may have to pick up their CD, Méjico Máxico, as I currently have nothing like it.