Voxtrot/Mahogany @ Bowery Ballroom: Kraut Rock the Vote

A quick search through my site reveals that I have not written about Voxtrot. And I call myself a blogger. For shame on me, pussycat.

Well, I saw the Austin outfit for the first time tonight thus keeping my blogger cred in tact. I know they are from Austin because some guy kept on yelling "Austin" between every song. Yup, everything is bigger in Texas.

I'm glad I saw the band now rather then during their initial push in the beginning of the year. I have a feeling that they are more confident as performers and musicians now then back in March/April. Sometimes, it's good to let a band settle into a zone before declaring them the next big thing in the indie world.

It took me a while to get into Voxtrot or even bother paying attention to them. At first, I thought they relied too heavily on showing their Elvis Costello influence. Also, each song felt like it had the same tempo and had a predictable structure. It was only until the last few months that I came realize those things are what makes the band tick. They borrow heavily from mid-60s pre-psychedelic folk pop more than the new wave 80s. Add to that some showmanship from Ramesh Srivastava and you have the winning formula that is setting New Yorkers bopping along.

Similarly, it took me a while to get into tonight's show. At first, they came off as rather timid and apprehensive. It was only until the later half that I thought the band found their groove and Ramesh was more untethered as a frontman. He really makes the band a dynamic live act. He's a little ball of energy -- jumping around, swinging his arms in the air and dancing his little heart out when he's not on guitar. The last two songs and the encore crackled with pop goodness that had me bouncing in place on my good leg.

In the future, I would still like to see more variations in their songs then just hook, catchy chorus and small guitar interlude. They've already established themselves as pop perfecters, now let's see where they can take us. Their full length debut is due in April next year.

Vegan was at the first show.

The other reason I chose this night of the two night stand was to catch local act, Mahogany. Plus, it was 21 and over night. Yeah, legal people in da house! Mahogany reminds me of early Stereolab where they used a lot of guitar and guitar loops. When you see the gang on stage, you instantly notice that there are five guitars in play. Then you are inundated with a full visual show to go along with the Kraut rock, loopy dance music and spacey vocals. It sounded so rich and the rhythms had a lot drive to it. Like listening to Stereolab, you feel like a cooler person afterwards.

Contrary to popular belief, they do not play the theme to Mahogany. Do you know where you're going to?

Comments

what about the ballet you homophobe!

[MusicSnobbery]

Wow! That was just uncalled for.

I didn't see The Ballet.