Under the Radar
Flamingo Cantina, Friday, March 16
Although those in the long and constant line outside the Flamingo Cantina all day couldn’t testify to this, it’s a pleasure watching Deerhoof go to work. Shooting off with a spastic rumble that simultaneously counters and compliments singer Satomi Matsuzaki’s delicate coos, the San Francisco quartet’s irregular melodies and start-and-stop psychedelic soul brought fire to an otherwise middling day party, one that didn’t catch any breaks when Boise, Idaho, Prince reincarnate Youth Lagoon had to cancel on account of a reported computer malfunction. The downer of the set was Brooklyn’s La Sera, the four-person side project of Vivian Girls bassist Katy Goodman, who rolled out alternative pop somewhere in between the Mynabirds and Heartless Bastards but didn’t do much to own the material – or even look like they enjoyed it. Far more willing to rattle the walls, Staten Island, N.Y., foursome Cymbals Eat Guitars laced the triumphant hooks on last April’s Lenses Alien with grandiose, hyperdistorted song intros. Singer Joseph D’Agostino has the songs to stick around, but his shrill cry can be piercing to the point of distraction.
This article appears in March 16 • 2012.