(photo of Holy Fuck’s gear via Matthew Masurka)

Fuzzy rock bands Crocodiles and Holy Fuck played a show Sunday night at the 7th Street Entry; a night that showcased two bands with lots of potential, though only one ended up living up to the hype.

In a definite “you can’t make this up” moment, as I was walking up to the 7th Street Entry for the show I came upon a man being led in a police cruiser for apparently being too rowdy at the Third Eye Blind concert that was being held at the First Avenue Mainroom. I proceeded inside and within minutes was presented with something nearly as ridiculous as the band Crocodiles tried their very hardest to make me hate them. I was looking forward to hearing the fuzzed out pop songs that had drawn them so much attention, but I was immediately struck by the band’s two members and how hard they were trying to be “rock stars.” They sauntered on stage in sunglasses and had the house lights dimmed so that they could play behind the glow of some red lamps. While they obviously are indebted to the Jesus and Mary Chain musically, the fact that it looked like they were dressing up like the Reid brothers just about pushed me over the edge. But even with all of the aesthetic aspects of the band working against them, they still played a decent set; despite their bravado and rock star poses that they struck throughout their performance, the band’s strong ’80’s influenced fuzz pop songs stood out. “Soft Skull (In My Room)” was especially cutting and set closer “I Wanna Kill” sounded just as great live as it does on the record. While the music was good, I imagine it would be even better if it was fleshed out with a full band. The duo played with pre-recorded backing tracks that ended up accounting for most of the music, namely synths and the crackling drums, that was coming from stage. Hopefully the band, who are obviously talented and have an ear for ultra catchy melodies, will be able to work out their “rock star” issues, get a proper band and focus on making more great records like their debut.

After the maddeningly inconsistent set by Crocodiles I was hoping that headliner Holy Fuck would provide a little more direct gratification to the night, and they exceeded all possible expectations I could have set. Holy Fuck is a Canadian instrumental/electronic duo comprised of Graham Walsh and Brian Borcherdt that reaches far beyond the normal parameters that their genre(s) may suggest. In the live setting they are augmented by a powerful bass and drums rhythm section that took their propulsive music and took it to another level. Their live sound reminded me of everyone from !!! to Clinic to Primal Scream. Walsh and Borcherdt played their homemade electronic systems with great skill as they showed the amazing songs from both their debut album Holy Fuck and their amazing 2007 album titled LP. The faster songs, which highlighted the dense layers of melody and the thumping bass lines, showed the band at their most powerful. Their songs sounded utterly massive live and there were a few times when the bottom fell out of a song and the room absolutely exploded. It was a dance party, which I did not really expect, that rivaled the last time I saw Cut Copy in that same room. Throughout their 65 minute set (including a two song encore) the band balanced between intricate electronic passages and crowd pleasing funk rhythms. It was one of the more rewarding and consistently engaging shows I have seen in a while.

While both bands have put out great recorded material, this was a night where there was a clear distinction between teachers and students. While Crocodiles played the poser rock star shtick and ended up cheapening their strong set, Holy Fuck refrained from anything flashy, save for playing an amazing set that enraptured the crowd. Hopefully the guys in Crocodiles take some notes and next time they come back they can play a set half as strong as the great performance Holy Fuck laid down Sunday night.

Holy Fuck: Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
Crocodiles: MySpace