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The Maybenauts

November 12, 2010 @ Quenchers

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By Dave Miller

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Emily Agustin of The Maybenauts offered a review of The Wanton Looks on her way to the stage. “That sucks,” she said to Wanton Looks guitarist Susie Q. “I got to follow that?”

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The Wanton Looks dropped a rock bomb on Quenchers’ stage late Saturday night, blitzing through 11 songs in 45 minutes and decimating everything in their path. The room held 100. The performance warranted a setting at least 10 times that size. Lead singer and bassist Traci Trouble, drummer Meg Thomas and guitarists Inga Olson and Susie Q. played a thrilling show and showed once again that they have the look, the attitude, the chops and, crucially, the songs to hit the big time.

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I’ve seen them three times now and their tough, three-chord rock and roll sweetened by hooks and harmonies have sounded more powerful each time. On this night, Trouble may have celebrated a friend’s birthday a bit too much before the show as she was the loosest I’ve seen her and even a little sloppy at times, but she still commanded the stage with fearless authority. Heck, she was even exciting during soundcheck. Trouble pounded her bass and Susie Q. ripped off guitar notes as if they were starting the show, even though the real opening was still minutes away. Once the show kicked off with “Get Through to You,” Olson wielded her guitar like a switchblade. She provided Bangles-like backing vocals on “Worst Side of Me” and cut nifty licks into the closing “Demons.”

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By the end of the set, drummer Meg Thomas stood above her kit with her arms raised in triumph. It concluded a monster performance by her and the band. She was all over the drums all night like a punk Buddy Rich, providing a pounding sophistication to the group’s lean and mean sound.

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The Wanton Looks have recorded an album and will be shopping it to labels for a planned 2011 release. With competent management and promotion, they should explode. Their next shows are Nov. 30 at Liar’s Club and Dec. 10 at The Jackhammer in Chicago. Catch them in intimate venues while you can. They don’t figure to be playing them much longer.

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The setlist:

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Get Through to You
All Your Fault
Electromagnetic Force (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3P5FOW4Lnw)
All I Want is You
86 Me
See You Again
Forget You
Neverending
Worst Side of Me
Come On
Demons

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Start: 11:43 p.m./Finish: 12:28 a.m.
Totals: 11 songs, 45 minutes

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The Maybenauts were left with the unenviable task of following The Wanton Looks. It’s notable that the Maybenauts played in any slot considering that lead singer Leilani Frey suddenly left the band last month due to differences with its other three members. It’s unfortunate as the foursome had a lot going for it with its glam pop rock sound and identity. Frey was an essential part to that as a natural and dramatic front woman with her bright vocals and energetic dancing.

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Frey’s departure has left the Maybenauts like a donut with a hole in the middle. Saturday’s nine-song set over 32 minutes felt like a rehearsal as guitarist Vee Sonnets and bassist Ellie Maybe gamely took turns handling vocal duties while drummer Emily Agustin laid down a heavy anchor. It’s admirable that the Maybenauts have soldiered on and continued playing live shows, but it’s apparent they need to find a singer as soon as possible, not only for the songs’ sake but for theirs as well. The one word I would use to describe the Maybenauts when I saw them in the past was “fun,” but that quotient was noticeably down early in their set. It’s understandable given the circumstances.

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It was good to see the band loosen up when it drank a round of shots after “Blue Line.” From there, smiles returned to stay, and a good time was had for the final three songs. The space panda stayed for the duration with Sonnets keeping his mask on for the whole set. Maybe even started stripping near the end of the set.

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Let’s hope that the Maybenauts can find a new singer who’s a good fit for them and that Frey finds future success with whatever she has planned. From here, it seems like they need each other, but it just goes to show how hard it can be to keep a band together, even a talented one.
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The Madison Square Gardeners played an entertaining 46-minute set before The Wanton Looks. The six-member outfit from Brooklyn, N.Y., brought high energy to its straight-ahead rock that was augmented by an organ and a pedal steel guitar. Compelling frontman Aaron Lee Tasjan strutted and sang lyrics in the style of late Material Issue singer Jim Ellison. As the band continued I detected a Heartbreakers vibe from it and, if almost on cure, it played a tune called “Young And In Love” that Tasjan introduced as a “Tom Petty ripoff song.” A trip into alt-country late in the set made me think about early Wilco. The comparisons are meant as high compliments, but ultimately they point toward the band’s weakness. It sounds too derivative. The challenge for the Madison Square Gardeners will be too develop more of their own identity. The funny “My Ex-Girlfriend is a Bad Lesbian on Drugs” is a step toward that.

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Abnormal Cattle opened the four-band bill. “Hello, we’re from the cheese state,” guitar-playing singer Rick Wood greeted the crowd. The trio from Wisconsin tended to sound like a low-key Nirvana. They sounded most interesting when they sounded heaviest. I’d encourage them to pursue that harder fringe. They’re fine musicians. I particularly enjoyed Nate Lang’s bass and Dan Smrz’s drums, but the band’s music didn’t elicit a strong reaction. I’d like to see them step up their energy. “You guys are all on valium,” Wood cracked at the end of the set. I would respond that a crowd’s reaction is dependant on the band.

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