I guess heavy rock in 2013 has got to be aware of its own absurdity, and The Mathleticss Team know it. I suppose after the seriousness of the laptop acts, this kind of surreal mania was always going to be a relief.My relationship with the excesses of heavy rock goes back to the GWAR gig I saw as a teenager. GWAR dressed up as monsters and had a fight on stage, pausing only to cover the audience in fake blood or semen. If these guys aren't quite on that scale, they is a similar sense of nonsense. They have announced they intend to play intergalactic rock'n'roll. The subsequent tune is very Hawkwind, even done to the saxophone versus guitar battle.
Then there is my inordinate love of Holy Mountain. I can't help but think that rock is ironic.
I've pondered the idea of a heterosexual kitsch recently. That is, an application of irony, enjoying stuff that isn't cool or fashionable but investing it with the seriousness of sincere attention. The Mathletics Team are all over this: their fashion is something that would have been serious in 1984. Now it's daring me to laugh.
They are using the saxophone like Roxy Music would - sudden solos and to add heft to the rock attack. The brass section doesn't shape the sound - this is all about the guitars. Apparently the lyrics are all about geek culture - I can't hear them, although the singer has that 1980s female rock shout (you know, Bonnie Rait. I have never heard her, but this is how I think she sounds).
Anyway, it's good to have some fun. It was getting very artistic this afternoon, and they have a backstory.
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