Quiet Color

by squelio and e$

Walking into Lit last night, we knew we would be in for a treat. Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt was playing the downstairs of the tiny bar, outfitted with some of the most awesomely tacky Christmas decorations you’ve ever seen. It only added to the wonderfully eccentric TPDR, currently on David Byrne’s Luakabop label.

Artist: Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt Song: Snowday!

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Lead singer Neil was dressed in his usual stuffed animal suit, and we were able to score some amazing hats from the communal costume box. Mr. Sparkle, and Ms. Hamburgler, respectively. In a world where bands have been taking themselves seriously for far too long,  this show gave me hope that the people can be unabashedly silly and passionately serious at the same time. We sang, we danced, we cried…fine, no one cried, but it was an emotional experience. Neil and the band, er, ipod, played five or six songs, each one with more lust than the last. It’s impossible not to get wrapped up in the commotion – the costumes, the lights, the screaming – you could walk into on of their shows completely sober and moments later feel like you’re tripping balls. It’s craziness in the best sense of the word.

Tromping up and down the narrow hallway, falling on himself and everyone around him, scaling benches and tables, Neil sang and screamed and sweat.  Backed by the Grrrrl Police,( Neil’s entourage of backing singers dancers and performance lighting artist’s wearing a vest of balloons) this show turned into something out of a pre school mad house, full of ADD generation kids who just want to dance, be silly, and bang on the drum all day.

With songs like “In Your Face Suckiness” and lyrics like “I love you! This world is a thousand times better because your Mom and Dad fucked each other,” one can recall the effectiveness of accessible songwriting and how powerful (and hilarious) the simplest of words can be. This show really made me think about what music has the possibility to be these days. I saw an audience who had no idea what to think of these guys suddenly realize that we all have a crazy kid inside of us who don’t give a shit what anyone else thinks. Kids who used to put costumes on and go other worlds full of enchantment and danger to esacpe the mundane lives of modern boring America. We left the show with a sense of glee and the welcome breath of acceptance for the strange and silly characters we don’t often let ourselves be.

These cats weren’t trying to be something, they were just singing their guts out and having a lot of fucking fun doing it. Check out one of their jams below. And the title! Come on…