Spring Break
Energy at Ottobar show rests on Man Man
Issue date: 9/20/07
It has long been said that Baltimore, particularly Hampden, is the campy capital of all things kooky. But last Saturday, at the Ottobar's 10th anniversary celebration, Philly natives Man Man proved that the locals may be a bit out of touch with what constitutes edginess.
First on stage was Swedish-American synth-pop duo Cocos Palme, an '80s throwback that tried compensating for its uninspired music with kitschy aesthetics. Cocos Palme relied on ballerina dancing and a malfunctioning keytar to make up for their sloppy set of semi-danceable, retro electro. At one point, after her partner fiddled with his busted keytar jack for the umpteenth time, the synth player quipped, "Technical difficulties add to the charm." The audience disagreed.
After Cocos Palme, three local bands, all veterans of the recent Hampdenfest, took the stage. The first, Frenemies, slouched through a set of jangly, forgettable indie-rock. Though they made an effort to spice up their songs with a few unorthodox yet well-rehearsed time signatures, the band kept falling back into the exhausted indie idiom of rapidly-picked, delay-moistened guitars and unfaltering sixteenth-notes played on a hi-hat, a combination that's been done by countless Neo-New-Wavers and with far better results.
In a similar vein, the Oranges Band channeled the spirit of '94 with their nostalgic pop-punk. With a larger following than Frenemies, the Oranges Band played off the crowd's enthusiasm and put on an all-around more energetic show.
The best of the Baltimore bands was Double Dagger, a bespectacled, pencil-necked trio that combined Death From Above 1979 with the Descendants to get aggressive, poindexter-angst-ridden, drum-and-bass rock. The group was considerably refreshing: loud, abrasive, genuinely experimental and challenging (the geeky frontman would antagonize and insult the crowd, then jump right off the stage into the frenzy he'd created), Double Dagger put the other bands to shame.
When Man Man finally took the stage at 1 a.m. they wore white cut-offs and tank-tops, headbands to hold back their greasy mullets, and Native American war paint, so that they resembled a gang of savage hillbillies. And that's precisely how they played. The six multi-instrumentalists wove through their jungle gym of a stage set-up, alternating between marimbas, guitars, trumpets and even a percussive propane tank. What was most astonishing about this was not how chaotic it seemed, but how calculated it was.
First on stage was Swedish-American synth-pop duo Cocos Palme, an '80s throwback that tried compensating for its uninspired music with kitschy aesthetics. Cocos Palme relied on ballerina dancing and a malfunctioning keytar to make up for their sloppy set of semi-danceable, retro electro. At one point, after her partner fiddled with his busted keytar jack for the umpteenth time, the synth player quipped, "Technical difficulties add to the charm." The audience disagreed.
After Cocos Palme, three local bands, all veterans of the recent Hampdenfest, took the stage. The first, Frenemies, slouched through a set of jangly, forgettable indie-rock. Though they made an effort to spice up their songs with a few unorthodox yet well-rehearsed time signatures, the band kept falling back into the exhausted indie idiom of rapidly-picked, delay-moistened guitars and unfaltering sixteenth-notes played on a hi-hat, a combination that's been done by countless Neo-New-Wavers and with far better results.
In a similar vein, the Oranges Band channeled the spirit of '94 with their nostalgic pop-punk. With a larger following than Frenemies, the Oranges Band played off the crowd's enthusiasm and put on an all-around more energetic show.
The best of the Baltimore bands was Double Dagger, a bespectacled, pencil-necked trio that combined Death From Above 1979 with the Descendants to get aggressive, poindexter-angst-ridden, drum-and-bass rock. The group was considerably refreshing: loud, abrasive, genuinely experimental and challenging (the geeky frontman would antagonize and insult the crowd, then jump right off the stage into the frenzy he'd created), Double Dagger put the other bands to shame.
When Man Man finally took the stage at 1 a.m. they wore white cut-offs and tank-tops, headbands to hold back their greasy mullets, and Native American war paint, so that they resembled a gang of savage hillbillies. And that's precisely how they played. The six multi-instrumentalists wove through their jungle gym of a stage set-up, alternating between marimbas, guitars, trumpets and even a percussive propane tank. What was most astonishing about this was not how chaotic it seemed, but how calculated it was.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Nikki LeFaye
posted 8/28/08 @ 9:22 PM EST
You smell like bran.
Love, Cocos Palme :)
myspace.com/cocospalme
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