On record, the two German members of post-techno group, Mouse on Mars, are far more than mere knob-twiddlers or DJs; their music can be colorful, bold, jarring and emotional, qualities that, for some, are rarely heard between the beats of most techno music. MOM’s 2006 album, Varcharz, is perhaps the most severe actualization of their spazzy, sparkplug electronica, a melodic car wreck of muffled beats, swooping noise and bubbling synth patches that serve as fantastic headphones listening.
But that merely begs the question I was faced with at the Empty Bottle on this night: In a live setting, is MOM all knob-twiddling and lacking depth? This show left me leaning towards the affirmative. Sure, despite being surrounded by a table filled with laptops, wires and weird little boxes with twisty knobs like the ones that Radiohead use, Andi Toma and Jan St. Werner seemed to be rocking out as much as they could. Still, most of the time I was just guessing which of their subtle hand gestures corresponded to which sounds humming out of the PA. Did St. Werner make that buzzing noise when he pushed down on that metal box, or was it Toma when he was typing something onto the laptop? Maybe he just checking his Gmail?
On the plus side, the sound was crisp and clear, and the music (most of it culled from Varcharz) sounded more streamlined and dancier than on record, the noisy bleeps and bloops downplayed for the pulse of the bass and rhythm, all of which made for good dancing in the front rows. Thrill Jockey electro-rockers, Lithops, provided an opening set that excellently warmed up the crowd for MOM’s meaty electronica. It was satisfying to hear such a loose set precede the precision of the headliner.
Some of those won over by MOM’s (slight) pop departure, 2004’s Radical Connector, may have been disappointed that this time around the group’s live lineup didn’t include drummer/vocalist Dodo Nkishi. The show may have worked better if Toma and St. Werner had been hiding behind a curtain, allowing themselves to forget all notion of performance and allowing all of us to simply dance. However, in the end it didn’t matter much, as more and more hipsters were won over, uncrossing their arms and finishing off Pabst Blue Ribbons to join the mess up front.