Commentary

I recently saw a clip of the young drums and keys duo Matt and Kim performing on the Jimmy Kimmel Show. It was easily the worst televised live performance I have seen since Ashley Simpson’s drummer pushed the button for the wrong backing track on Saturday Night Live.

It was especially strange because Matt and Kim seemed so jubilant during the duration of the performance. Reading through the comments on Stereogum, the website where I was viewing the clip, I noticed someone mention that they seemed to behave like “short bus” kids. That kinda nailed it for me.

So then I went on YouTube to try to find an official video for the song they performed, “Daylight.” When I found it I noticed that it was about 1,000 times better than their live performance on Kimmel- even though it still pretty much stunk. I also stumbled across the group’s video for “Lessons Learned,” which followed the two as they stripped naked in the middle of the winter on the streets of New York City. Good gimmick, bad song.

And how it pains me to have to refer to a “group” like this as an actual group. Back in the day rock duos were quite the rarity. They Might Be Giants got their start with a backing track driven live show in the mid 80’s, but by the early 90’s had grown to a full-band. In the same era, the blues inflicted Flat Duo Jets provided the template for The White Stripes and The Black Keys.

In a non-acoustic atmosphere, raw blues seems to be just about the only niche that can succeed with such a barebones line-up. But circa 2009, we have all sorts of bands hitting the stage with only two members. And, unfortunately, none of them seem to be taking their cues from the Flat Duo Jets.

Has the stock in quality live performances suddenly hit rock bottom? I always thought that bands earned their reps via their live shows. With the help of a skilled producer and some ace session players any numbnuts can craft a worthy album, but a quality artist or band excels on stage. If you can bring the goods live you earn respect. It’s how you prove your worth as a performer.

Perhaps the most agonizing of this new crop of not so dynamic duos is Crocodiles. I’m always game for the latest Jesus and Mary Chain clone, and these guys prove to be a worthy retread, but live…oh geez. Two members, one plays guitar, one sings, and then backing tracks. What the frick? If you’re gonna be a two member live band you both better be multi-tasking. And by multi-tasking I don’t mean singing and pressing the play button on the iPod. I mean singing and banging away on drums, a guitar, keyboards, a xylophone…anything! Crocodiles set-up would serve you perfectly if your goal in life was to play American Bandstand, but it’s not gonna convert many Replacements worshippers to your cause.

As far as the remaining culprits, most could be improved with simple additions to their bands. Wavves, while enjoyable via the popular MP3 or CD format, needs some serious tweaking for their live show. One drummer and Wavves mastermind Nathan banging away on his guitar with a cast on his strumming wrist just ain’t cutting it. That’s the type of line-up I expect from the local gutter punk buskers. But if Wavves added a bass player, a Moog guy, and, depending on how much Nathan plans to keep on skateboarding, a second guitarist, they could be decent. Well, as long as the drugs are abused post as opposed to pre show.

Of the new generation of two-man bands go, No Age and Japandroids are pretty much the cream of the crop, but both of these bands should also pick up a bass player to move up to the big leagues. Japandroids could be especially exciting with a beefier sound. Right now they’re just kinda like Husker Du Lite Ice. With a bass player they could be straight up Husker Du Lite or perhaps even Husker Du Lite Ice, which ain’t a bad thing.

The most disturbing trend with these new school duos is the lack of respect shown to bass players. It used to be that the most bare bones of rock bands were comprised of a bass player, a drummer, a guitarist, and whichever member was the most coordinated tackling vocals as well. If you look closely, the one similarity all of these bands share (besides a lack of band members) is not having a bass player. Per usual, I blame Sid Vicious. If only a young Mike Watt had joined the Sex Pistols after Glen Matlock was canned, the role of the bass player in bands wouldn’t seem like such a joke. These days it is apparently something groups can do without. These duos should tread carefully though, one weak live show can make your band something your fans can live without as well.

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