Brightest Young Things

Photos by Pat Jarrett

There were more cheerleader-style high-kicks (47 –cale) performed by members of Shout Out Out Out on Tuesday night at the Rock and Roll Hotel than there were people in attendance (28 –cale), and that's a damn shame. It amazes me how mediocrity like The National can sell out in this city (and yes, I had a ticket, and yes, I thought it was not a good show), but only a handful of people bother to pay any attention to these guys - a Canadian electro outfit that rocked some faces off.

As a preface - everything this band did was over the top. Two drummers playing relatively, simplistic rhythms, two cowbells attached to some sort of rod, and a whopping three bass guitars at one point. It was a perfect example of rock and roll excess, with the cherry on top being a promise from the band that one of the members would piss himself on stage if everybody got dancing.

Needless to say, everybody's pants stayed dry.

Although the set was pretty brief, it felt like a condensed monster-truck rally of synthesizers, bass drums and vocoder crooning. The band opened with "Self Loathing Rulz," which got about a third of the venue moving right away. And while the original is completely great, it's too bad it wasn't a variation of the bomb-ass remix featured on the band's MySpace page. But this is just splitting hairs
- go listen to the remix. NOW. (no, seriously, do it –cale)

This chained into "Your Shitty Record Won't Mix Itself," which definitely prompted the most high kicks from lead singer Nik Kozub. The band even clocked in a couple of new songs - and while I didn't catch the titles, the first one was relatively harmless and forgetful, while the second one (a track that had 'Indiana' in the title) was a complete fucking jam, and was probably the highlight of the night. It certainly piqued some interest in the new material. (I'm so piqued right now -cale)

If there was a low point - it had to be in the band's rendition of "Chicken Soup For The Fuck You," - the tempo was drastically reduced, and it made the song far less invigorating than it should've been. The track is probably the most exciting one on the band's record, "Not Saying/Just Saying," but it was the bomb of the performance. A shame, because it was the only song that multiple people were calling for (which seemed to genuinely shock the band a little bit - it was cute).

D.C, wake up - these guys are totally deserving of your attention.

I only stayed for one song by headlining band The Octopus Project. I can tell you the following things.

1. They put ghostly looking animal things over the speakers and had pretty impressive-looking equipment and visuals, including a blood-red Mac Book that got me geeked out.
2. The lead singer looked like Selphie from Final Fantasy 8. It gave me a nerd boner.
3. It was really fucking loud.

Previously in Live DC:

• 5/24: LiveDC: The Adicts @ RNR Hotel
• 5/24: LiveDC: The Donkeys @ Black Cat
• 5/23: LiveDC: The Barr Brothers w/ Kishi Bashi @ The Hamilton
• 5/23: LiveDC: Damien Jurado @ Black Cat
• 5/23: Report: Soundbites 2012
• 5/22: LiveDC: Spirit Animal @ Red Palace
• 5/22: LiveDC: Astra Via @ Black Cat
• 5/22: LiveDC: Father John Misty @ Rock & Roll Hotel
• 5/22: LiveDC: Drive-By Truckers and Lucinda Williams @ Merriweather
• 5/22: Photos: Summer Camp takes the "Ladies of Town" Drag Show