On the Road Again
Live Reviews:

THE FEMBOTS
March 6, 1999
Ted's Wrecking Yard, Toronto, ON

FemBots are the most original Toronto act I saw in all of '98, and that continues to hold true this year. I haven't heard minimalist art-rock this good since The young Marble Giants released their one album (Colossal Youth, one of my desert-island discs) in the early '80s.

A duo comprised of ex-Dig Circus members Dave MacKinnon and Brian Poirier, FemBots are a minimalist duo who'll use any element that strikes their fancy to create their stark, darkly evocative songs.

It starts with tape loops. Not a digital sampler, mind you, but actual loops of tape spinning on two reel-to-reel recorders. During the songs, the loops on one machine usually set up the beat or the background sonics; between the songs, the other machine plays cheesy, melodramatic TV/movie/radio clips. (Sample: "It's long live the queen, even if I have to kill them all.")

From there, they add whatever fits, two elements at a time: A surf-toned, vintage Stella guitar (the most common thread); a melodica (at one point, imitating a train whistle over a loop of, yup, a train); a mic set up to crackle and hiss with tape distortion (for a John-Lee-Hookeresque boogie about "Ain't it good?/Ain't it right?/The way we feel tonight"); even the sound of air escaping from a tightly-held balloon (and in tune, yet - earning a huge round of applause).

Sometimes they sing, sometimes not. "Mike's Message" is a spooky, instrumental workout for guitar, xylophone, beat and noise. In "No One Fucks With Goon Ramerez," the tape tells a tale of a cowboy left for dead in the Mexican desert by a bandito, while the boys play Ennio Morricone guitar-and-bass - with a dramatic break for a stunningly appropriate harmonica wheeze. They've created their very own spaghetti western.

In the hands of lesser musicians, all this would amount to precious, high-falutin' wankery; but FemBots have somehow found an honest emotional core at the heart of their experimentation. And they have a sense of humour about it, too; for this show, they dressed in matching shirts (blue denim with dark pockets for the first half, khaki beige with a brown-and-orange shoulder stripe for the second), making them look like the sound mechanics that they are. And there's a rustic feel to everything they do, a sense that it's all home-made out in the shed with whatever tools are handy.

It's dub without the dance; art without the pretense; 21st Century porch music. And they're the only ones doing it like this right now. Highly recommended. If you live in greater Toronto or environs, FemBots are playing Thursday March 18 at The Cameron House and Friday April 2 at Holy Joe's.