Les Saucy Pants

Les Saucy Pants

Asstacular!

Les Saucy Pants are smart. Some might even say they're too smart for their own good, but that's what happens when you follow in the propriety-slaying footsteps of righteous malcontents like Frank Zappa, Devo, and Chumbawamba. Spawned from eclectic Houston bands like Sprawl, Middlefinger, and Closeaux, the Pants combine canvas-covering splays of heavy metal, New Wave, ska, and art rock with precise landings that drive home their musical resolve. Guitarist Kelly Doyle and keyboardist/vocalist Matt Kelly gird the spry, rise-and-fall dynamics of songs like "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and "Natural Woman" with a menacing rumble that vaguely resembles prime Mach Two Deep Purple. At the same time, the quintet's prurient musings on fistulas and jism keep the tone snicker blue rather than sallow black. Kelly's death metal screams are convincing enough until you realize he's singing a song called "Murder in the Bistro." All the while, lead vocalist Mo Perce is singing with the droll, cutting wit of Algebra Suicide's Lydia Tomkiw, which only adds to Les Saucy Pants' inspired lunacy. Her rollicking "Brummagem Sister" deflates surgically enhanced fembotics with all the subtlety of a Tom and Jerry cartoon.