Two-man band Audiovox celebrated the release of its debut EP with a concert at the Riot Room last Friday night. Band members Brad Chancellor and Martin Bush set up on stage side by side. Chancellor drums; Bush sings, strums guitar and plays the laptop computer.
Both musicians have backgrounds in much heavier bands, which has made the Audiovox indie-pop experiment all the more fascinating to observe. At times, the duo sounds a lot like the Postal Service, from the programming to Bush's voice. He's a particularly poetic songwriter.
The self-titled, self-released EP covers the themes of breaking up, falling in love and self-awareness at quarter-life with notable lyrics like, Part of me is missing you, but the part is just so small/It's whispering to the ear against the wall.
The music's electronic touches are better appreciated on the EP. It's difficult for any band with a hefty digital component to duplicate precise effects live. Audiovox lost a little of its sharpness in the translation to stage - with just two guys, it's hard for even softly played drums not to overpower. Yet the overall effect of the music came across. And Bush's voice was right on for every song. By the fourth song, dancing girls had overtaken the front row, several of them singing along to every word. (I was, too. Audiovox's pop melodies have been stuck in my head for months.)
The 7-song set was noticeably brief, but Bush apologized, saying, "We've only been a band six months - that's all we have." And to be fair, the performance did include one unreleased track - "Fifteen," a super slow one that concerned a fight in a schoolyard.
Performances by Pet Comfort and Waiting for Signal preceded Audiovox in the main room; a DJ set by Stevie Cruz followed on the patio.
Set list
Breaking Up is Breaking Out
Ready-Aim-Fire
Fifteen
Runtime Error
Sleep Schedule
Mortimer
A Cautionary Tale
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