Oh, Zac Pennington, you slithering, sexy, bloody beast. We heart you.
Zac Pennington makes me uncomfortable. The lead singer/mastermind’s gorgeously androgynous face and menacing blue eyes are unavoidably magnetic, and once your pupils lock with his, itap over. Pennington has creepy/sexy down to a science, an icky feeling he gives off that only translates to one thing: obsession.
Songs of love and blood and uncomfortable sexual situations spilled from Pennington’s mouth March 16 at the as his band played on in a nearly catatonic state, powerless statues in the face of their leader’s heavy hand. The thin and pretty Pennington left the stage for most of the performance to prowl the floor, as far as the tether of his microphone cord would take him.
He confided in the small audience that the Hi-Dive was his most favorite place in the U.S. to play and that he wasn’t baiting us, his sentiments were genuine. This was a hard fact to swallow considering Pennington’s speaking voice is unintentionally condescending, but his performance showed otherwise.
Through songs like “Love Connection” and “Young Eucharists,” he crawled across the floor, rolling around, serenading and patronizing us with his weepy howl. Parenthetical Girls’ mix of harpsichord melodies and tango beats slid underneath Pennington’s dark and withering teenage nursery rhymes with razor-sharp precision, leaving the crowd breathless as each song came to an end, unsure of the erratic performer’s next move.
The most mesmerizing moment of the evening found Pennington marching to the opposite end of room, dropping the microphone to let his voice clamor nakedly in the awkward air as he yelped out the words. Pennington removed a cue ball from the pool table and rapped it along the floor and crept back to the stage on his knees.
Pennington’s religious experience was just the tail end of an evening of great performances by No Kids and , a perfect collision of two tours that came together for the Denver show.
I walked in to the Hi-Dive to find Guidance Counselor’s Greg Oden screaming and nearly naked on the floor as a strobe light flashed through the dark, a circle of audience members taking his fits in.
Their obliterating performance was followed by No Kids’ mellow set of neo-’80s stripped-down jams, a welcome and calm complimentary element to the early night. Through songs like “The Backlot” and “For Halloween,” lead singer/keyboardist Nick Krgovich did his best “I’m alone in my bedroom in front of the mirror” dance as his sugary retro vocals floated out from a sheepish grin.
Starf*cker’s set was the least attractive, as it seemed the not-so-recent addition of two more members spoiled their usually fun and noisy pop broth. The foursome still charmed us with “Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second” and “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” one of many covers in their short set. The performance was a delightful segueway into Parenthetical Girls’ torturously beautiful sonic display, and I won’t hesitate in saying this lineup will join an already long list of best shows of 2009.
Like an expertly handsome Billy Corgan with out the over-stroked ego and a handful of terrible albums, Zac Pennington had me at “hello.” Or maybe it was at “a delicate blend of sweat and menstrual blood.”
Bree Davies plays bass in , writes about her obsessions with Iggy Pop and Lil’ Wayne in and repeatedly fakes her own death at . She is also a self-proclaimed addict.
