First of all, I would like for every one to meet Vehicular (the opening band for Clap!Clap!), a little trio from Austin. With as much force as the Beastie Boys sitting on Andy Samberg’s face, they rhyme about bean bag chairs and Czechoslovakia like true old-schoolers, carrying a surprisingly healthy swagger and charisma reminiscent of the days of Adidas and no shoestrings.
A small crowd of girls huddled in front of the stage while Clap!Clap! set up. The band has improved immensely in the last couple of years, and Wednesday, local Austin website Do512.com graciously sponsored the show at La Zona Rosa, (an Austin staple of a venue). Joshua Mills probably never thought his voice would be an aphrodisiac, but when ten girls are gyrating in front of you while you sing about disrobing one another, the guy better realize what his calling is. A no frills intro to the first song “Dr. Doctor” lights a fire under the most staid of show-goers. “Troubles Doubles” is a joint vocal effort featuring Emily Ausmus, who demonstrates the difficulties of comprehending a drunk girl. The glue that holds a lot of their sound together is Scott Ota, who at one point was playing separate keyboards at once. My neighbor once shouted “that is the sexiest sound in the world” when Ota pressed a single key.
On a more political note, “Talk Shop” seemed to be the song everyone was waiting for. Not since Ferris Bueller’s speech in the shower have we been given a platform from which to ponder the use or abuse of “isms”. “Talk Shop” is almost a mantra, and if I’d had time to stop dancing I might have realized the song had something to say.
With Vitamin Water as a new sponsor and one of their tracks playing at Forever 21 (the mall mecca of twenty somethings everywhere), their rise is bizarre and happening fast. Clap!Clap! has it together, and by the time they’re gracing the cover of Spin, I’ll be reviewing the newest band shamelessly copping their aesthetic.
