Bogart & the Addictives
SXSW showcase reviews
Reviewed by Greg Beets, Fri., March 20, 2009
Bogart & the Addictives
The Parish Downstairs, Wednesday, March 18
It's never a good sign when the sound guy plays deep cuts from Bob Seger's Beautiful Loser right before your showcase set. Between that and the sparse 8pm crowd, Toulouse, France, post-punk upstarts Bogart & the Addictives faced an uphill recruiting battle. Too bad this dynamic and altogether affable quartet with a ridiculous name wasn't around five or six years ago when resurrecting the waning days of the Cold War was all the rage. If you could get past their late arrival to the party, opening number "Women in Uniform" echoed Gang of Four in ways far beyond its title, and the song's compelling combination of obtuse disco rhythms and Klaxon-like synth bleats scored on its own accord. "Kling Klang Düsseldorf" brought in call-and-response boy/girl vocals that hinted at The New Transistor Heroes-era Bis. A cover of Joy Division's "Transmission" bristled with familiar energy, while "Superheroes" shimmered with the disposable, delicious preen of early MTV. No one wanted to play the Beatle Bob role of dancing in the middle of a half-circle of tentative chin-scratchers, but Bogart & the Addictives earned a more than polite if not quite thunderous response by set's end.
