Great Lenin’s Ghost Prove Theremin’s Rad Factor

While the Bicycles filled the Tranzac’s main space with their own glorious indie-rock racket (and a forty-five minute "interactive gaming session" of their new DVD board game!), this Friday found an even weirder sort of noise-making taking place inside the little glassed-in room just beside the venue’s main entrance.

Leading the weirdness factor inside the cozy space was Gravity Wave, probably the only sort-of-rap-cum-pop group in the city to possess a twelve-year-old hype man. Seriously, this kid is like Flavor Flav circa Fear of a Black Planet, but without puberty or insanity. Somehow, Gravity Wave’s music succeeds in transcending the YouTube-readiness of its visual aesthetic by being quirky and catchy, a weird mix of backpack hip-hop and loner electro-pop.

Great Lenin’s Ghost, having ditched their guitar for a keyboard and added a bloody Theremin, were in top form. Having lucked out with a few high-profile opening slots in their short existence, the band is already evolving away from its electro-pop-punk roots and becoming a more bizarre, brutal musical beast. Energetic as hell with dance moves to spare, Great Lenin’s Ghost’s new sonic textures made their fast-paced pop that much more interesting.

Oh, the Tranzac. The hits just keep on coming.

Photo by Eryn Brobyn.