Aquaduct: NorthSix, April 1

A fresh-faced Midwesterner's exhortation ("Hip hop beats!" he screamed.
"Hip-hip beats!") set off one of several bouts of intensely homo-erotic
jamming.  The bass player and drummer stared deeply into each other's eyes,
jammed as if their orgasms depended on it, then giggled and clapped for each
other when it was all over, wiping the cum off of their chests.  Well,
almost.

At their best, Aquaduct invoke a Jason Gardner-fronted Postal Service- a
description that will admittedly send plenty of people scurrying for the
indie hills.  Almost unbelievably, this isn't intended as an
insult: they've got the cloyingly sincere lyrics, cascading digibeats, and
simple, joyous keyboard riffs that invoke nothing but dancing happiness.
The crowd, unsurprisingly, did lots of gentle swaying and hugging.

Yes, there is something shallow and "fun-loving" about Auqaduct.  When did
"fun" become a dirty word in indie circles, though?  Some of indie's best
bands were conceived and run on the principal of having as much fun as
possible: musical and otherwise.  Bands whose names I can't think of, granted, but I'm sure that I'm right anyway.  

The defining moments of this fun as enjoyable/deplorable dichotomy bookended
the show.  On one end was Aquaduct's opening song, a cover of the Geto Boys'
"Damn it Feels Good to be Gansta," perhaps better known as "That Song From
Office Space Where They Beat Up the Computer."  Severely digi and RATATAT-ed
out, yes, but still feeling more like Dynamite Hack's version of N.W.A.'s
"Boyz N Tha Hood" than anything else.  More successful were the songs from
their obligatory encore.  After abashedly assuring the audience they "just
want them to have fun," the band performed a largely doo-wop verson of R Kelly's
sexcapade smash "Remix:Ignition" followed by an just-barely-different take on
"Don't Stop Beliving."  Everyone sang along, if only during the chorus, and
it was definitely the high/low point of the evening.