I Can Put My Arm Back On, You Can’t with Fox on Boombox and Heart Murmur at Sneaky Dee’s, February 5. Tickets: $6. Attendance: 100. Rating: NNN
Rating: NNN
Heart murmur demonstrated that fresh my-first-band quality last Thursday at Sneaky Dee ‘s, like teenagers who’ve been practising in Mom and Dad’s basement, still wet behind the ears, dreaming of seeing the world from the back of a crowded, smelly van. They’re full of energy, and their song structure is experimental and amusing. The band’s also a bloody mess, however, and the vocals are absolutely painful. Cute droning, pounding cover of Ace of Bass’s Don’t Turn Around, but before you can deconstruct something you ought to be able to construct it first. Keep practising, dudes.
It was Fox the Boombox ‘s second show ever, and they, too, were a little messy, but still pleasing to the ears. And what these five lack in polish they make up for in enthusiasm, like little alternative cheerleaders shouting in girly voices. The only thing they needed were Japanese accents, and I swear I heard someone faking one.
Shonen Knife, Cibo Matto, the Asian chick contingent sprang immediately to mind while I listened to Fox chunking out choppy, dancy alt-rock with the addition of such things as a cowbell and a squeezebox. They kept having keyboard problems, but there was too much hyperactive excitement going on onstage for that to be a big issue.
I Can Put My Arm Back On, You Can’t unfortunately had a major problem with the treble, which was already really fuckin’ loud.
They were pretty tight, though, especially compared to the other bands, with a fine drummer in Damien Valles . Nowhere near the charm of Fox on Boombox, but you can’t have everything.
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