holy shizbizzles! they don't play music like this at house parties on dawson's creek. no sir. today's pop music climate seems to be confined to two separate camps: angsty white guys whining about love lost, and sambo-ized pseudothugs rhyming about "putting it right thurr" and taking off various articles of clothing. well, white guys can write catchy tunes about debauchery too, and the holy ghost revival does it with gusto. channeling the kinks to the best of their ability (with a tad of art-punk angularism to keep things interesting), THGR kicked out the jams like rock still mattered, and the kids were as enthralled as any fawning pack of emos - i'd like to see a dashboard confessional fan top my dance moves.
since their friends chet were stopped at the border, the canadian headliners frog eyes were the second and final act of the night. emo slurs aside, i don't think i've ever seen a band with the kind of passion that mercer and co. had onstage. though the music vaugely resembled the birthday party's cabaret-rock theatrics, the vocals were a shot to the gut rivaling the melodramatics of the rites of spring. there was perhaps even a little dna in the clunky, idiot-savant rythms, but comparisons only go so far. let me just say this: frog eyes rock funkier than the smell of your mom's left armpit. word.