With a shoulder revealing Shivers cut-off tee and a spandex mini-skirt, Busy Signals vocal vixen Ana McGorty screeched “Turn up your stereo/Wind up to go go go,” before leading into a blurring fit of Flashdance-like hot steps. At the Empty Bottle last night (Jan. 14), a full pack of punklings collected at the front of the stage to see the Busy Signals – a band spawned from the Windy City’s Southside loft parties, where the average attendee can’t legally drive a car – blaze through a near gapless nine-song show without a word of banter.
Select tracks from their self-titled debut dominated the quick performance while others touched upon flip sides from 2005 and 2006. Carefree thrashers such as “Matter of Time,” “Tell Me,” and “Plastic Girl” saw each band member crash into each other with each change-up by drummer Frank Jensen. But it was a currently untitled new tune, which showcased angry guitars à la the Stooges and fiery Karen O-like venom, that saw the nervy fivesome go completely apeshit. As “So Pointless,” a blasé Ramones-style runaway tailored for guitarist Eric Cecil’s laser leads, closed things out, the Busy Signals punch-lined their set with a bat of a lash and a simultaneous gear toss to the floor, etching a perfect bittersweet question mark for the evening. Sticksman Frank Jensen quipped to SPIN.com post-show, “We’re definitely not trying to push any envelope at all.” Heh.
Tags: The Busy Signals