Horse + Donkey, Baby Robots
Live Shot
Reviewed by Audra Schroeder, Fri., June 9, 2006
Horse + Donkey, Baby Robots
The Parlor, June 3
There's something voyeuristic and comforting about the Parlor on North Loop that makes it feel like a scene in a Tom Waits song, an anything-goes aesthetic. A homeless man wanders in pumping his fist to the music; bikers converge out back; children squeal with past-their-bedtime delight as other pierced and tattooed characters sit sleepy-eyed, bloated on pizza and beer. On Saturday night, Baby Robots' drug rock got everyone high, from the woozy feedback blast at the end of "Stars 'n Heads" and the drum-based mania of "Uppers and Downers" to a power pop version of Buddy Holly's "Listen to Me." It was the perfect music to go with hot blasts from an open oven every five minutes. Local trio Horse + Donkey followed up with their psych/kraut doom pop. Kicking teeth in with opener "The Riddle," a stuttering surf tripwire packed with reverb and chopped vocals, they were like the Texas version of P.I.L.-meets-Flat Duo Jets. "This song's about a woman who falls in love with a horse." A patron cracks wise: "I've seen that movie before!" Crack, crash, fizz. Several folks jerk their torsos in unnatural ways, moved by an unseen force; guitarist and singer Jaime yelps and wrestles sharp twangs from his guitar, making it sound like a post-punk construction site: Guitar jackhammers. Bass drills. Drums saw. "This song's about a horse, a real good looking horse." It was a tight, short set that rendered a few folks unable to articulate what they had just heard. That's good music.
