Austin Psych Fest Live (Saturday): Quintron & Miss Pussycat

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Welcome to the Quintron & Miss Pussycat show “weirdos and... (by Shelley Hiam)

New Orleans husband and wife duo Quintron & Miss Pussycat managed to kill Mother Earth, use a marshmallow spaceship to travel the universe, and successfully locate the happiest place in the cosmos – Rainbow Land. All this was executed in the first 10 minutes of its Saturday night Psych Fest set, before either had picked up an instrument.

Maybe the psychedelic puppet show thinned out the already sparse crowd, but the remainders were treated to an rock-organ-led dance party as impressive as it was absurdly joyous.

Quintron, effectively a one-man band, operates behind a vintage car grill that hides his electric organ. At times it sounded like a full-scale band was crammed behind there, too, as he looped and distorted sounds around his flying fingers. Miss P acted as vocalist, maraca shaker, and the consummate hostess, assuring throughout the set that an adequate amount of balloons were being lobbed into the crowd.

“Model Ex Citizen” went off in Le Tigre-style sing-shouting that carried the same kind of carefree essence of belting it out of a car window. Despite the lighthearted nature, Quintron has serious organ chops. He works the keys like guitar frets, turning the set into a continuous organ solo worthy of a horror movie block party.

Despite musical prowess, it’s evident the duo doesn’t take itself too seriously, and they don’t want you to, either. Quintron summed his aim up best: “I make my rock music for weirdos and fags.”