MATT AND KIM + Best Fwends + Black Feelings @ Club Lambi

By Joshua Mocle - The Kids are So-So - 11/06/2008

Like most good stories, this one started with an email…

November 5th 2008

From: Pirate! Steve Theo

To: Joshua Mocle

Do you guys (or anyone there) want to go see Matt and Kim tomorrow, or do an interview, or a phoner, or anything?

If you don't Josh can't come back to Pirate!

OK maybe I'm lying!

Or am I.......?

Now it just so happens I was considering attending this show anyway since I happen to think Brooklyn’s Matt and Kim are the most adorable thing since the invention of the puppy, but the prospect of not being able to enter the hallowed halls of Pirate Promotions again (along with their willingness to foot the bill) made me sufficiently motivated to get off my ass on a Thursday night and partake in some tasty dance punk goodness.

However, drone-filled, repetitive local openers Black Feelings proved to be a mighty big letdown. I suppose whoever put the show together knew that these not-so-bouncy Montreal denizens used a synthesizer heavily in their work (much like the adorable New York headliners) and that may have been what ultimately landed them on this bill. Make no mistake though; these guys were not the correct pick to warm up this particularly pop heavy bill. While I will admit that this guitar-drums-synth collective was certainly heading in the right direction, their Depeche Mode meets a very stoned Isis sound was still very far from perfect and required a lot more work. However, I would like to see what these guys can do in a year on a more fitting bill before I make my final judgment on them.

What followed Black Feelings is something I won’t soon forget, a riotous performance from the evidently “huge in Europe” Best Fwends (out of, of ALL places, Austin, Texas.) Now, I suppose the first thing one might notice about this dashing duo is that they do not, as a matter of fact, play any instruments. Their entire musical accompaniment came by way of an iPod (that they made no attempt to conceal) and while this may seem like a bit of a letdown it is made up for in spades by their entirely unique stage show. Utilizing colorful backgrounds and a pair of inflatable gargoyles, these two were startlingly reminiscent of Brooklyn’s OTHER pre-eminent Dance Punks Japanther at their very best (minus, of course, actual instruments.)  While this description may seem relatively basic, this set was, in almost every way a “you had to be there” situation. Sometimes something is just so absurd that the human brain lacks the ability to properly recollect on it, and this situation was very much one of those. You’ll just have to track them down and see for yourself.

Headliners Matt and Kim took the stage with exactly as much fanfare and ostentation you could expect from a pair of adorable Brooklyn hipsters (named, you guessed it, Matt and Kim) who play dance punk…and by that I mean then came on, set up, sat down and started playing. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to catch their entire set, however I did manage to catch, amongst others, personal favorites “It’s a Fact (Printed Stained)” and “5K” as well as their new single “Daylight” (off their upcoming full length, Grand, out January 20th.)

For those of you not aware, these guys were handpicked by Mr. Keith Morris (of a little known band called The Circle Jerks) to support his band on last summer’s Fuck Yeah Tour. Unsurprisingly, all of the bands picked as support for that tour have subsequently had a GREAT year, although it remains to be seen whether the support of Mr. Morris and their exposure to packed houses across the U.S. this summer lead to that great year or if they were headed that way anyway. Regardless of the specifics, Matt and Kim managed to, in very short order; infect everyone in attendance with a strong, undeniable case of the smiles as their natural chemistry exploded into the room. If the guy and gal of Mates of State were just a little younger (okay…maybe a lot younger), I would imagine they’d both sound and act like these two. While they certainly don’t reinvent the wheel in terms of fast, danceable synth-punk tunes, they have certainly mastered the genre and molded it to form a sound that has become universally theirs. I can’t recommend them enough.

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