Make It Pop

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'Make It Pop' opens with a taut drum roll, similar to those played before an acrobat walks a tightrope or is shot out of a cannon. In terms of the circus, the snappy percussion is used to set up an expectant, excited atmosphere in the audience: Will the performer plummet to the dirt and sawdust floor below? Will he miss the safety net and defy death no longer?

On Giddy Motors' debut CD on FatCat Records, the drum roll seems to be serving the same purpose and tension: Will the band's frenzied and quirky take on punk rock skronk implode, leaving an embarrassing puddle of sonic glop rather than an impressive display of manic showmanship? As the disc plays out, the threat of the former dissipates, leaving the listener with only the threat of tired yet satisfied ears.

The circus is present in more than just the opening seconds of the first track, 'Magmanic'; throughout the CD vocalist Gaverick de Vis delivers his spiel like a rabid, belligerent carny, changing the inflection in his voice from a wistful warble to a pissed scream without warning. It's the kind of performance in which you wonder if the singer is aware of spectators or if he is stuck in his own world, wildly gesturing and berating old memories and lithium phantoms.

The drums/bass/guitars/saxophone combo egging on de Vis possesses the same dementia that consumes the vocalist. 'Magmanic' is battered by a tide of heavy metal riffs, the force behind it being the unruly, angular funk of the bass. 'Hit Cap' and 'Sassy' are similar, fusing a tribal, industrial funk with irregular bouts of speed and composure. And just when you think you have the band figured out, it glides into 'Venus Medallist', whose bucolic calm passes by like an eye of a hurricane. Strings and guitar are the predominant voices here, gently rocking and bobbing like a beam of wood adrift on water. Is this a moment of lucidity for our trio? It's hard to tell - as soon as the song ends, 'Whirled By Curses' begins to finish 'Make It Pop' with dripping madness and a touch of vicious self-loathing. The circus may be in town when Giddy Motors makes an appearance, but it isn't Ringling Brothers or Cirque du Soleil that you'll be experiencing - think more in line with the theater of the absurd.