Better Than:
The Klaxons turning out to be some fucking rave band.There’s something adventurous about going to a band’s show that you know nothing about. I guess adventurous for me qualifies as about anything that doesn’t involve TiVO Boggle or KRAFT Macaroni and Cheese, but regardless it’s still fun. I had heard nothing about the Klaxons until yesterday, when I learned they had won the Mercury Award and were British. Further research proved that the Mercury Award was, indeed, a good thing that allowed me to impress no one in particular with my depth of Klaxons knowledge. When I got to the Fox Theatre I ran into a few friends who proved to know about the Klaxons on hype alone, they were fellow adventurers as well.
Before the Klaxons came on, however, the Hot IQs played a solid set. I’ve always liked the Denver three-piece; they get far on cocky nerd bravado and a desire to play fun, catchy music. If I were stranded on a desert island, they would not be in the running for the CD I would want to take. But when it’s a sunny day and I just want to get from point A to point B smiling, “Dangling Modifier” is a go-to CD for me (Full disclosure: Brian the fro-haired bassist recorded my band’s demo, along with just about every other local band's CD at some point, at Uneven Studio). I guess the Hot IQs have ‘made it’ by my golden standard: Someone in the crowd huddled close to the stage and took a cell phone picture of them.
After the Hot IQs were done, the lights dimmed and lights/techno music started bumping from the stage. I immediately regretted my non-drugging ways; if I’m going to listen to some techno shit sober it will only inspire me to punch someone, not dance. The Klaxons came onto the stage a few minutes later and immediately lay to rest my fears.
I wish I have listened to obscure music from the past so I could lay down comments like, “While some may think they draw from the Kinks and the Libertines as much as the modern indie-dance scene, I personally picked up a distinct Blinzfeld influence mixed with prose similar to that found in Kafka’s lost poems.” The only problem is that I don’t think a musician named Blinzfeld existed and don’t know if Kafka wrote poetry, much less if he lost any of them.
What I can say is that they were everything a good rock and roll band should be: young, brash, idiotic and talented. They bridge an older Britpop and newer dance music with good old fashioned punk rock. The lead singer reminded me of a bad guy in the Harry Potter books for some reason, he wore something that looked like a cape and had an Isaac Brock-ish frame and built-in scowl. I guess that almost all British people remind me of Harry Potter people since I re-read the books; the other day I was behind a British lady ordering coffee and I thought she would have made a great Hogwarts librarian.
The Klaxons did not play for very long, which made sense because they are a new band with only one CD. I did not feel cheated, though, the packed a lot into that short set. I have little doubt that even though the Fox was barely half full, next time they tour they will be playing to a lot more people. -- Gene Davis
Personal Bias: None, I knew nothing about the Klaxons going in. Random Detail: I did everything I could to stay sober so my observations wouldn’t fall from somewhat insightful, to I like boobies and I want a hamburger. By the Way: I don’t know how much the ridiculous British Press Machine has built the Klaxons up, but this time they might not be that far off.
