REVIEW AND PHOTOS BY LAUREN LOYA
Labelmates Junior Boys and Max Tundra don't look like guys who inspire kinetic sensuality, but that's what they got when they set up shop at the Record Bar Friday night.
The jam-packed crowd bopped first to Tundra's bright, erratic sounds -- warm, melodic rays of sunshine one second, cheerful electronic noise the next. Tundra bounced like a spastic chimp from the mic to a variety of music equipment. The results were refreshingly different but not always easy to dance to. Still, the audience clearly approved of his smooth vocals and impressive range.
Mentioning that every musician has a song he wishes he'd written, he belted out a few lines from Vanessa Carlton's "1,000 Miles" near the end of his act. Almost half the set contained songs from his latest album, Parallax Error Beheads You (which came out in October 2008 and was six years in the making), and a smattering of goodies from earlier albums, appropriately finishing with "So Long Farewell," from The Sound of Music.
Just when congestion seemed at its maximum, more people shuffled in for the main event: synth-pop delight Junior Boys.
The 10-year-old Canadian duo (from Hamilton, Ontario) brought a drummer to strengthen their electro-force. Pushing songs from the new Begone Dull Care, Jeremy Greenspan got into the music, throbbing to the beats, but Matt Didemus remained unanimated, concentrating hard at his craft but with hardly a glimpse at the audience.
Starting with "Hazel," the new CD's come-hither single, Junior Boys pressed the dancers in the crowd into steamy service. JB then served up some favorites from its previous album, So This Is Goodbye, reminiscent of Depeche Mode and even a hint of Ace of Base. In the heart of the crowd, sweaty bodies undulated to the seductive pulse (complemented by breezy spring vocals, bursts of ghostbuster synth and sheet-grabbing hotness). Closing number "In the Morning" could make you feel sexy rubbing yourself with a glazed doughnut. Luckily, it never came to that, and the encore left the audience hitting the dance floor hard with "FM" and "Under the Sun."
Max Tundra set list: Orphaned, Merman, Which Song, Lights, Will Get Fooled Again, Lysine, The Entertainment, What Time Is Love, So Long Farewell
Junior Boys set list: Hazel, The Equalizer, Double Shadow, Work, Parallel Lines, Bits and Pieces, Count Souvenirs, Birthday, The Animator, In the Morning (Encore = FM, Under the Sun)
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